Marriage and home making in the 1500-1600's

Dear Ladies, Have you ever wondered where some of the marital traditions came from? Some date back as far as the 1500's. For instance: Most people got married in June becasue they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. (sigh) Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. (sigh) 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 diry you could actually loose somone in it. Hence the say, "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 cats and other small animals (mice,bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and somethimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop them from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings would mess up your nice clean bed. Hence a bed with big posts and a sheet hug over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came int existence. How about one or two more interesting facts for this posting? 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 straw, called "thresh" on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more "thresh" until when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: the thresh hold. More to come on the next post.