A Little History

[BudMan]

Some of this may even be true.



Where did term Pi$$ Poor come from?



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 "Pi$$ Poor"



But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot......
they "didn't have a pot to pi$$ in" and were the lowest of the low.




The next time you are taking a shower 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 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 a good 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 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 entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.




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 several hundred 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 they would be prepared 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.... I Think....Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

[Cajunrider]

I'd seen this before but it's been a while. Pretty interesting and it all makes sense.

[ringadingh]

With a yearly bath in June most people probably smelled like they were already dead for a while, I can understand the confusion. ;)

[cactusjack]

Very interesting.

[desertdog]

You mean to tell me people take a bath more than once a year?? When did this start??

[Loafer]

Originally Posted by DesertDog

You mean to tell me people take a bath more than once a year?? When did this start??

When HD started buying parts from Kawasaki

[Stump]

Very interesting to say the least, I just learned something new.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Interesting stuff here Dave. Thanks for posting.

Steve the yearly bath was in May not June. They got married in June because they still smelled pretty fresh.

[Kawhead]

Originally Posted by DesertDog

You mean to tell me people take a bath more than once a year?? When did this start??

It's a little thang that started in the East ans slowly makin' its way out West.

[desertdog]

It's a little thang that started in the East ans slowly makin' its way out West

Well I ain't gonna be the first to try this new fad out. I'll stick with the once a year thing, worked great for grandpa, so its good enough for me, besides, it will never catch on.