Life in the 1500s, or Today's Familiarities, Yesterday's Way of Life We often take much for granted in our comfortable modern society. We tend to forget the past. But, even though we don't think much about it, the past lives on in the words we say, the phrases we use and our traditional customs. The following describes a few of the conditions that existed in England in the 1500s, that have evolved into modern-day traditions and recognizable phrases we now find familiar here in NJ, and in other sections of the U.S. Bride's Bouquet - Most people got married in June because they took their annual bath in May. Although they were still smelling pretty good by then, they were beginning to offend. To make things more manageable brides would carry a bouquet of flowers to mask the b.o. Bath Water Baby - Baths equaled 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 loose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water". Cats and Dogs - 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 pets... dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, and 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." Four Poster Beds - Thatched roofs also posed another problem. There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This was particularly discouraging in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your relatively clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with big posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those beautiful big four poster beds with canopies. Thresholds - In most homes the floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor". The more well-to-do had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh (the hay-like material left after removing the grain portion from the wheat) 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 at the entry way, hence a "thresh hold". Peas Porridge Hot - They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly ate vegetables and didn't get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner leaving leftovers in the pot which would get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been in there for a month. Hence the rhyme: "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Chewing the Fat - Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Yuck - Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes... for 400 years. Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers - a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth." The lucky few - 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". Wake Up - Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them 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". Saved by the Bell - England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one 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 of a way to remedy this. They would tie a string on the deceased's wrist, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground, tying it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence, someone having the "graveyard shift" would know whether the buried individual was "saved by the bell" or if he was a "dead ringer".