Fun story if little factoids.. next time you say "its raining cats and
dogs.." you will know where it came from..
>> The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the
>> water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how
>> things used to be.
>> Here are some facts about the 1500s: Most people got married in
>> June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled
>> pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so
>> brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor... Hence
>> the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths
>> consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
>> The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
>> then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
>> children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty
>> you could actually lose someone in it... Hence the saying, Don't
>> throw the baby out with the Bath water. Houses had thatched roofs
>> with thick straw-piled high and no wood underneath. It was the
>> only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other
>> small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof . When it rained it
>> became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off
>> the roof...Hence the saying, It's raining cats and dogs. There was
>> nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a
>> real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could
>> mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a
>> sheet hung over
>> the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into
>> existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something
>> other than dirt... Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had
>> slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so
>> they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their
>> footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
>> when you opened the door, it
>> would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in
>> the entrance way... Hence the saying, a thresh hold. In those old
>> days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always
>> hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things
>> to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and
>> did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner,
>> leaving leftovers in the pot to
>> get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes
>> stew had food in it that had
>> been there for quite a while...Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot,
>> peas porridge
>> cold, peas porridge in the pot 9 days old. Sometimes they could
>> obtain pork, which made them
>> feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up
>> their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could
>> bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little
>> to share with guests and hence...they would all sit around and
>> chew the fat. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food
>> with high acid content caused some of the lead
>> to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This
>> happened most often with
>> tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
>> considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status.
>> Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family
>> got the middle, and guests got the top or the upper crust. Lead
>> cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
>> sometimes knock the crap out of you for couple of days. Someone
>> walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them
>> for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple
>> of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and
>> wait and see if they would wake
>> up.....Hence the custom of holding a wake. England is old and
>> small and the local folks started running out of places to bury
>> people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to
>> a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1
>> out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
>> inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So
>> they would tie a string on
>> the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through
>> the ground and tie it to a
>> bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
>> (hence, the graveyard shift)
>> to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, Saved by the Bell
>> or was considered a--- Dead Ringer.
>> Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !
>>
dogs.." you will know where it came from..
>> The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the
>> water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how
>> things used to be.
>> Here are some facts about the 1500s: Most people got married in
>> June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled
>> pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so
>> brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor... Hence
>> the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths
>> consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
>> The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
>> then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
>> children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty
>> you could actually lose someone in it... Hence the saying, Don't
>> throw the baby out with the Bath water. Houses had thatched roofs
>> with thick straw-piled high and no wood underneath. It was the
>> only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other
>> small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof . When it rained it
>> became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off
>> the roof...Hence the saying, It's raining cats and dogs. There was
>> nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a
>> real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could
>> mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a
>> sheet hung over
>> the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into
>> existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something
>> other than dirt... Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had
>> slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so
>> they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their
>> footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
>> when you opened the door, it
>> would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in
>> the entrance way... Hence the saying, a thresh hold. In those old
>> days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always
>> hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things
>> to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and
>> did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner,
>> leaving leftovers in the pot to
>> get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes
>> stew had food in it that had
>> been there for quite a while...Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot,
>> peas porridge
>> cold, peas porridge in the pot 9 days old. Sometimes they could
>> obtain pork, which made them
>> feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up
>> their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could
>> bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little
>> to share with guests and hence...they would all sit around and
>> chew the fat. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food
>> with high acid content caused some of the lead
>> to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This
>> happened most often with
>> tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
>> considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status.
>> Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family
>> got the middle, and guests got the top or the upper crust. Lead
>> cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
>> sometimes knock the crap out of you for couple of days. Someone
>> walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them
>> for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple
>> of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and
>> wait and see if they would wake
>> up.....Hence the custom of holding a wake. England is old and
>> small and the local folks started running out of places to bury
>> people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to
>> a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1
>> out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
>> inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So
>> they would tie a string on
>> the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through
>> the ground and tie it to a
>> bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
>> (hence, the graveyard shift)
>> to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, Saved by the Bell
>> or was considered a--- Dead Ringer.
>> Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !
>>
