LIFE IN THE 1500'S

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 the1500s:

1. 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.

2.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..

3.Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with

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.

4.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.

5. 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 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 entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

6. 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

notget 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

nine days old..

7. 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..

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The

combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a

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.

11. 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 (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell;

thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a ...dead ringer..