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Water Restrictions

Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 17:23

Member -Dodger

If you want to beat water restrictions then a lesson may be learnt from the 1500,s.


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:


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 odour. 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 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 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 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 History was boring !
Parked at Boroka Lookout
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Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Regards Dodg.
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AnswerID: 264888   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 17:58

Willem replied:

And they thought that life was good!!!!

In a couple of hundred years time someone will dig up the history of four wheel driving in the 20th and 21st Century and exclaim....."Geez. life must've been tough then! Imagine moving about in those monstrosities to get somewhere!"

Cheers
Karoo Jackal
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Willem

There is more than one way to bag a bunny

Reply 1 of 6
AnswerID: 264908   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 19:05

Member - Kim M (VIC) replied:


Dodger

I'm not sure I appreciate you discussing my home, or life style on a public forum. Yes, we made a bit of a mistake with Nanna, Uncle Bob and me Mum, but there's only one bell in the Village.

I was feeling a bit uncomfortable the other day and went to the soothsayer. Turns out I have lead in my pencil. Drinking does have benefits.

As for hygiene, the dog is washed once a year in the remaining tub water. It's then used in the cooking pot.

LOL

Regards

Kim
Somewhere in WA
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A dog will quickly turn you into a fool, but who cares? I'm a fool for my dog and proud of it."
Reply 2 of 6
FollowupID: 526737   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 19:40

Member - R Send posted:

Is it the dog or the tub water that is used in the cooking pot?
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 526740   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 20:00

Member - Kim M (VIC) posted:

R Send

The dog of course.

Surely you don't think I'd cook in dirty water! She flavours the accumulated left overs that have built up in the pot during the preceeding 12 months.

The water is offered as a Xmas gift to my boss each year.

LOL

Regards

Kim
Somewhere in WA
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A dog will quickly turn you into a fool, but who cares? I'm a fool for my dog and proud of it."
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 264911   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 19:28

Voxson replied:

Hell, What about this one.
The word POSH is always thought of with rich people.
Here is why.

Back in the 17 - 1800's sailing out of the English Channel the commoners used to get the windy, or the sea side which was the right side and the visa versa coming back in and the rich to do would get the more calming other side.

They used to pay for it though and their tickets were stamped POSH which stood for Port Out Starboard Home.

Modified
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.
Reply 3 of 6
FollowupID: 526743   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 20:22

Member - Andrew (QLD) posted:

Not by all accounts on the internet.....searching for POSH does not yeild that description as a major belief.

Check out http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/port%20out%20starboard%20home.html amongst others for some information on this word. Even the Snopes website denies this as the reason.

Andrew

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It may be that my sole purpose in life is to
serve as a warning to others!
FollowUp 1 of 1
AnswerID: 264953   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 at 22:10

obee replied:

Reminds me Of when I was a kid. We had a bath like that. Lucky me child number three out of six. The ring of grot around the edge was rank. Dad told me to change my shirt when the collar got black.

Owen
Reply 4 of 6
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AnswerID: 264981   Submitted: Thursday, Oct 04, 2007 at 07:26

GoneTroppo Member (FNQ) replied:

I say "bring back the good old days"
J Series Bedford
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Still going there and doing that.
Reply 5 of 6
AnswerID: 265137   Submitted: Friday, Oct 05, 2007 at 09:43

Members - Chris/Lindsay (VIC) replied:

Thoroughly enjoyed your post. I wonder about the male odour at the wedding!! Maybe the groom was there to groom them somehow. Cheers. Christine
Fear is faith in the wrong thing.
Reply 6 of 6

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