sandemon
February 21st, 2002, 02:51 PM
HISTORY OF ADAGES
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > * 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 of thick straw, piled high, with no wood
> > underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm. So all the
> > dogs, cats and other small animals (i.e., mice, rats and bugs of sorts)
> > 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
> > really 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 has slate floors that would get
> > slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to
> > help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more
> > thresh until when you opened the door, it would start slipping outside. A
> > piece of wood was then placed in the entrance way, hence the label
> > "threshold."
> >
> > * 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 the 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, nine 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 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
> > and/or death. This occurrence happened most often with tomatoes. So for
> > the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
> >
> > * Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers. Trenchers
> > were made of a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.
> > Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that
> > they could use them for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and,
> > a lot of times, worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After
> > eating off worm and mold infested trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."
> >
> >
> > * Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of
> > the loaf, the family got the middle, and guest got the top, or the "upper
> > crust."
> >
> > * Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would
> > sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the
> > road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were then
> > laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would
> > gather around and eat and drink and wait to see if they would eventually
> > wake-up, hence the custom of holding a "wake."
> >
> > * England is old and small, and they 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, many
> > coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized
> > that they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a
> > string on the wrist of the corpse, lead the string up through the ground
> > and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all
> > night (i.e., the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone
> > could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
> >
> > ... And that's the truth ....
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > * 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 of thick straw, piled high, with no wood
> > underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm. So all the
> > dogs, cats and other small animals (i.e., mice, rats and bugs of sorts)
> > 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
> > really 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 has slate floors that would get
> > slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to
> > help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more
> > thresh until when you opened the door, it would start slipping outside. A
> > piece of wood was then placed in the entrance way, hence the label
> > "threshold."
> >
> > * 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 the 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, nine 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 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
> > and/or death. This occurrence happened most often with tomatoes. So for
> > the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
> >
> > * Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers. Trenchers
> > were made of a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.
> > Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that
> > they could use them for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and,
> > a lot of times, worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After
> > eating off worm and mold infested trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."
> >
> >
> > * Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of
> > the loaf, the family got the middle, and guest got the top, or the "upper
> > crust."
> >
> > * Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would
> > sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the
> > road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were then
> > laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would
> > gather around and eat and drink and wait to see if they would eventually
> > wake-up, hence the custom of holding a "wake."
> >
> > * England is old and small, and they 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, many
> > coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized
> > that they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a
> > string on the wrist of the corpse, lead the string up through the ground
> > and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all
> > night (i.e., the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone
> > could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
> >
> > ... And that's the truth ....