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<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This may be factual or not, but is
somewhat amusing!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Historical Facts<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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..<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Here are some facts about the
1500s:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * *<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * *<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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 dogs, 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."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * *<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">There was nothing to stop things from
falling into the house. This posed real problem in the bedroom where bugs and
other droppings could really 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. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had
something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The wealthy had slate floors that would
get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor
to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding 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."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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 the 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."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">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 and death. This happened
most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
considered poisonous.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">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." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">* * * * * * <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Lead cups were used to drink ale or
whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them 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."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * *<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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 thought
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."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">* * * * * *<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">And that's the truth... Now, whoever said
that History was boring ?!<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">> ><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Educate
someone...Share these facts with a
friend...</SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>