On average chain mail sucks, but I recently received one from Kay I thought was kinda interesting:


>> 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 the 1500s:
>>
>> 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 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 itrained it
>> became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip
>> and 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 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?)
>>
>> 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 who 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 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 "upper crust."
>>
>> Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. 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, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was
>> considered a " dead ringer."
>>
>> And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History
>> was boring Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.