I am away for the weekend, Hazel says she will look after me, the actual words were, "kill or cure you", anyway, here are a few interesting facts.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 thingsUsed To be. Here are some facts about the 1500 s:    These are Interesting...    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 toHide The body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when gettingMarried.     Baths consisted of a big tub filled With hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice cleanWater, 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 youCould Actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby outWith The Bath water..     Houses had thatched roofs-thick Straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place forAnimals To get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) livedIn the Roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals wouldSlip 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 andOther Droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big postsAnd a Sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy bedsCame Into existence.     The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had Something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy hadSlate Floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spreadThresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, theyAdded More thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slippingOutside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence theSaying a Thresh hold.   (Getting quite an education, aren't You?)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 andAdded 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 inIt 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 hangUp Their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bringHome 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 leachOnto The food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with Tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were consideredPoisonous.     Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, andGuests got the top, or the upper crust.   Lead cups were used to drink ale Or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for aCouple 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 forA Couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink andWait 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 digUp 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 scratchMarks On the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So They  would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, thread it through The coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone wouldHave To sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listenFor the Bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead Ringer.   And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !     Educate someone. Share these facts with a friend