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 their body odor. 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 like 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-that's why we say, "It's raining cats and dogs."

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 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 entryway - thus was born, the "thresh hold."

Sometimes they could obtain pork. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "would bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Speaking of pork, the price was related the position of the cut of pork. The carcass of the slaughtered pig was hung on a hook by its rear legs and the higher on the pig the cut of pork, such as the ham or loin; the more it cost with the head being the cheapest. So when one eats well, it is said that they are eating "high on the hog." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a 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. 

The poor did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale bread, which was so old and hard that they could use them for quite some time.

Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off wormy moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."

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."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the drinkers 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."

England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and then reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of every 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they got an idea that 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." 

Jan, these quotes and where they came from are great. Thanks for the contribution, now I know why I say some of the strange things I say. Can you believe it that everything didn't start in South Philly? 

If you have any great information like this to share you can contact me at the Philadelphia Public Record. You can e-mail me at Waffleman@phillyrecord.com or visit my web page for other great memories - http://www.Dwaffleman.com. By the way, the five books in The Waffleman Series are available for you to share our memories with your friends and loved ones.

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