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:

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 ge tting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with h ot 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 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 th at had been there
for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold,
peas p orridge 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
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 wou ld
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking a
long 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 c ould be, saved by
the bell or was consid ered a .dead ringer..

And that's the truth...Now, wh oev er said History was boring ! ! !

Educate someone. Share these facts with a friend

"Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote in
:

> 1500'S

Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?

Bwahahaha!!!!

--

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why
the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

Dom Helder Camara

Michel Boucher wrote:
>
> Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?
>
I do, but it cost me $250 and I ain't about to share it.... -aem

aem wrote:
> Michel Boucher wrote:
>> Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?
>>
> I do, but it cost me $250 and I ain't about to share it.... -aem
>
You reminded me that years ago when I was new here to RFC, someone was
posting that urban legend at least weekly. I haven't seen it posted (as
gospel truth!) in a couple of years now.
Of course, those letters from the guy in Nigeria might have crowded them
out? LOL

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> aem wrote:
> > Michel Boucher wrote:
> >> Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?
> >>
> > I do, but it cost me $250 and I ain't about to share it.... -aem
> >
> You reminded me that years ago when I was new here to RFC, someone was
> posting that urban legend at least weekly. I haven't seen it posted (as
> gospel truth!) in a couple of years now.
> Of course, those letters from the guy in Nigeria might have crowded them
> out? LOL

Never claimed it to be gospel truth....just looking for some levity <vbg>.
I DO know from my BF from college who lived in Charleston, SC when Hugo blew
in that they found a yacht in their backyard and they are 'very' inland.
Their house, thank goodness, made it through the storm. She laughingly
referred to the yacht as 'special delivery'. I would be happy if I found 8
lb. fish flopping on the lawn.....door to door service........

Recipe:
1 lb. haddock fillet
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp lemon juice
thyme
kosher salt
white pepper

Spray non-stick cooking spray in microwave proof baking dish. Place haddock
in dish and dot with butter. Pour lemon juice over filler. Sprinkle with
thyme, salt and pepper. Microwave on high for approximately 5 minutes or
until fish flakes easily.


Oh, Goomba, those Nigerian investment letters. They were crowded out of
my inbox by all the letters starting: "Virginia.......YOU NEED a bigger
penis". Ya think the name would tell them I don't need male enhancement!
-ginny

"Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:

>Never claimed it to be gospel truth....just looking for some levity <vbg>.
>I DO know from my BF from college who lived in Charleston, SC when Hugo blew
>in that they found a yacht in their backyard and they are 'very' inland.

Between the Cooper and Ashley rivers, plus various other assorted
cricks, nothing in Charleston is 'very' inland from a body of water
big enough to hold a yacht. (Unless your definition of 'very' or
'Charleston' is considerably different than the usual.)

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

Goomba38 > wrote:
>You reminded me that years ago when I was new here to RFC, someone was
>posting that urban legend at least weekly.

The general public's need to make its own nonsense
dropped precipitously the day GW Bush was inaugurated.

--Blair

"Michel Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> "Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote in
> :
>
>> 1500'S
>
> Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?

I had it, but once when I was out on a date with a girl, and I parked my
car on lovers' lane, that guy with the hook instead of a hand attacked
us and stole the recipe for the Neiman-Marcus cookie that I had in my
car (I had the cookie in the car; but he stole the recipe, for some
reason -- maybe it was because I had baked razor blades in it to give
out for trick-or-treat), and I drove away very quickly, flashing my
lights to signal the initiation rite for the local gang. As I drove off,
I noticed that the hitchhiker had vanished from the back of my car.

If you don't believe me, here's the hook he left behind. I use it to
fish out alligators from my toilet.

After that scary incident, that girl refused to date me anymore, so I
married her instead. We never have a boring moment, as you can well
imagine.

"Mordechai Housman" > wrote in
news:Iadpg.19$Rk2.16@trndny04:

> "Michel Boucher" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>> 1500'S
>>
>> Anyone got a receipt for the Nieman-Marcus cookie?
>
> I had it, but once when I was out on a date with a girl, and I
> parked my car on lovers' lane, that guy with the hook instead of a
> hand attacked us and stole the recipe for the Neiman-Marcus cookie
> that I had in my car (I had the cookie in the car; but he stole
> the recipe, for some reason -- maybe it was because I had baked
> razor blades in it to give out for trick-or-treat), and I drove
> away very quickly, flashing my lights to signal the initiation
> rite for the local gang. As I drove off, I noticed that the
> hitchhiker had vanished from the back of my car.
>
> If you don't believe me, here's the hook he left behind. I use it
> to fish out alligators from my toilet.
>
> After that scary incident, that girl refused to date me anymore,
> so I married her instead. We never have a boring moment, as you
> can well imagine.

Like, fer real, man?

--

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why
the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

Dom Helder Camara

Virginia Tadrzynski > wrote:
>1500'S

Brought to you by the letter Q, the number 1.35, and the
r.f.c chapter of the Society for Creative Apocryphalism.

The one about Tomatoes was the first obvious crock. Then I
checked the etymology of "threshold" and stopped worrying.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=threshold

The bunk is running free this summer.

--Blair