Pastor Eruke
Fun Historical Facts


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 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 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.”

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.”

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.”
Just having a little fun here (laughing)

Is that all?