From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Thu Jul 13 10:26:58 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6DGQwjb015939; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 10:26:58 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6DGQt9b016706 for ; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 10:26:55 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k6DDnEFI005460 for ; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:49:14 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k6DDnEts005459 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:49:14 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k6DCXnFI005268 for ; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:33:49 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k6DFBLwu011765 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:11:21 -0600 X-Envelope-From: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Thu Jul 13 09:11:21 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6DFBLjb011756 for ; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:11:21 -0600 Received: from smtp108.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com (smtp108.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com [68.142.206.241]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k6DFB87f004355 for ; Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:11:09 -0600 Received: (qmail 93288 invoked from network); 13 Jul 2006 15:11:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO Shirley.s-hornbeck.com) (shirleyhornbeck@sbcglobal.net@66.122.5.141 with login) by smtp108.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; 13 Jul 2006 15:11:03 -0000 Message-Id: <6.2.3.4.2.20060713080314.029d71f0@pop.mail.yahoo.com> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.3.4 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:10:03 -0700 To: ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com From: Shirley Hornbeck Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Spam-Score: 1.301 (*) BAYES_50,FORGED_RCVD_HELO X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] This and That Tips - Interesting Historical Trivia #1 The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperatures 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 hid 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, etc.) 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 ben. 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 straw on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more straw until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the sawing: "A thresh hold." More to come. Shirley Hornbeck - THIS & THAT GENEALOGY TIPS: