Funny Historical Truths

• Carrying a
  Bouquet When Getting Married
• Don’t
  Throw the Baby Out the Bath Water
• It’s Raining Cats and Dogs
  
• Thresh hold
• Pick Up The Gauntlet
• Chew the Fat
• Holding a ‘Wake’
• The ‘Graveyard Shift’
• Five Favourite History
  Shorts
• There is
  a Bit of History Buff in All of Us
• Funny Historical Trivia

Carrying a Bouquet
When Getting Married

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 odour.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Don’t Throw the Baby
Out the Bath Water

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.’

It’s Raining 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 cats and other small
animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof.
Hence the saying ‘It’s
raining cats and dogs.’

Canopy Beds

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 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.

More Funny Historical Truths

Thresh Hold

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 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.’

Pick Up The Gauntlet

This was the situation: Abraham Thornton was accused of having drowned
Mary Ashford, but he was acquitted by the jury. This acquittal did not
satisfy popular feeling, and the brother of Mary Ashford appealed.

Now Thornton was well advised as to his next proceeding, and, following
the still existent law of this early time of which I write, he went to
Westminster Hall, where he threw down, as a gage of battle, an antique
gauntlet without fingers or thumb, of white tanned skin ornamented with silk
fringes and sewn work, crossed by a narrow band of leather, the fastenings
of leather tags and thongs.

This done, he declared himself ready to defend himself in a fight, and so
to uphold his innocence, saying that he was within his rights, and that no
judge could compel him to come before a jury.

This was held to be good and within the law, so Abraham Thornton won his
case, as the brother refused to pick up the gauntlet. The scandal of this
procedure caused the abolishment of the trial by battle, which had remained
in the country’s laws from the time of Henry II, until 1819.

In words of Dion Clayton Calthrop on Richard I.

Peas Porridge Hot

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.’

Chew the Fat

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 400 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 ‘upper crust.’

Holding a ‘Wake’

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 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.’

The ‘Graveyard Shift’

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’
Also they could be considered a  ‘dead ringer.’

See more Funny Religious Stories

Five Favourite History Shorts

1. When tea was first introduced into England, people threw away the
   liquid and ate the leaves, seasoned with salt and pepper.
2. The Duke of Wellington had one of the hooves of his horse Copenhagen
   that he had ridden at Waterloo sawn off and made into an inkwell.
3. In 1618, King James I, King of England, decreed that people could do
   certain sports after church worship on a Sunday.[Puritans later burned
   James’s declaration.]
4. Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold
   fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain. – Pierre
   Trudeau [former Prime Minister of Canada]
5. In September 2001, the Democratic Republic of the Congo discovered
   that it had 21,652 civil servants on its payroll who did not exist.

There is a
Bit of History Buff In All of Us
–  More Funny Historical
Truths

Randy Trobaugh kindly researched the history of these fascinating
sayings.

Cost an Arm and a Leg

In George Washington’s days, there were no cameras. One’s image was
either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him
standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both
legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many
people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms
and legs are ‘limbs,’ therefore painting them would cost the buyer more.
Artists know hands and arms are more difficult to paint.
Hence the expression, ‘Okay, but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.’

Big Wig

As
incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year (May and
October) Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their heads
(because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs
made from wool. They couldn’t wash the wigs, so to clean them they would
carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30
minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term ‘big
wig.’ Today we often use the term ‘here comes the Big Wig’ because someone
appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

Chair Man

In the late 1700’s,
many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long
wide board folded down from the wall, and was used for dining. The ‘head of
the household’ always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on
the floor. Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to
sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant you were
important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair the ‘chair
man.’ Today in business, we use the expression or title ‘Chairman’ or
‘Chairman of the Board.’

Loosing Face

Personal hygiene left much room for
improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by
adulthood. The women would spread bee’s wax over their facial skin to smooth
out their complexions.. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman
began to stare at another woman’s face she was told, ‘mind your own bee’s
wax.’ Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term ‘crack a
smile’. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt.
Hence the expression ‘losing face.’

Go Sip

Early
politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people
considered important. Since there were no telephones, TV’s or radios, the
politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars. They
were told to ‘go sip some ale’ and listen to people’s conversations and
political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times. ‘You
go sip here’ and ‘You go sip there.’ The two words ‘go sip’ were eventually
combined when referring to the local opinion and, thus we have the term
‘gossip.’

Mind your P’s and Q’s

At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from
pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid’s job was to keep an eye on the
customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and
remember who was drinking in ‘pints’ and who was drinking in ‘quarts’.
Hence
the term ‘minding your ‘P’s and Q’s ‘

Brass Monkey

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried
iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary
to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from
rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based
pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested
on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small
area right next to the cannon… There was only one problem…how to prevent
the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution
was a metal plate called a ‘Monkey’ with 16 round indentations.

However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly
rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make ‘Brass Monkeys.’
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than
iron when chilled.

Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass
indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come
right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, ‘Cold enough to freeze
the balls off a brass monkey.’  All this time, you thought that was an
improper expression, didn’t you!

The Holy Grail of
Historical Truth

Footnote:
Please send us your funny historical truths.