Not really jokes, but..... Harley Jokes Discuss Not really jokes, but..... in the Other Topics forums; " 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 ...

[evoKENevo]

"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:

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive
you were "Piss Poor"
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...they "didnt have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell . .. . 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-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."

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 floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they addedmore thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: 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 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 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."
[FONT=inherit]They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around "chewing 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 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".

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, someonecould be, "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer"..

[chipster]

Ken, you never fail to amaze me with your wealth of knowledge. Thanks for sharing your memories ... oops I mean information.

In all honesty, I have wondered where some of the phrases we use in daily life came from, and you shed some light on the subject.

[CrossBonesRick]

Ken, on the last subject it was known to be quite a problem in the 1800s and before to be buried alive. Some cultures came up with the legend of the vampire after seeing the scratch marks and blood on the lips of those who were dug up and thought that they had been rising from the dead to feed on the living.

Also if you read any Edgar Allen Poe you will see a common thread of being buried alive in many of his writings. He had a huge fear of being buried alive as I am sure many did in that age.

Thanks for sharing this info with us. Very enjoyable read.

[Bigincher]

Very interesting.

I always thought being 'saved by the bell' was a phrase invented by Howard Cosell as he called the big fights on Friday nights, while we watched on our black & white TV..!

[tejasandre]

Quite the education, indeed. Great post.

[tommyglide]

evoKen I think Chip called you ancient in a very polite way. He's kind of sneaky.

[evoKENevo]

Yo,Tommy
You don't really think I missed Chip's obvious shot or your even sneakier one do you !?!

Chip & others
Although I'd like to take credit for any knowledge I've shared here with you guys ...gotta acknowledge that you only got what was given to me...in this case anyhow !!

[chipster]

Me thinks that tommy is just jealous that he didn't think of it before I did.

[tommyglide]

I would have thought of it sooner Chip but my time zone is later than yours.
Yup.

[evoKENevo]

Whadda ya think we are...blonde or somethin' ???
You're in a much earlier time zone......so ya shoulda heard what he said before he even said it