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
Category: Oddities
Life’s oddities
A doornail is the strike plate against which the door knocker strikes. Because it has been hit so many times, it must be dead.
During the colonial days, you can always tell how important or rich someone is by the size of his wig.
An old story relates that a medieval town under siege hung a goose from a tower, symbolizing the stupidity of the attackers.
The attackers were so enraged that they burned the town, thereby literally cooking the townspeople’s goose.
During the 1500’s, the Spanish coins were not cut in perfectly round shapes. The weight was what mattered, and not shape.
Cheaters would chisel a little bit off of the borders of the coins to later combine to more coins.
These people were called chiselers.
One can still see coins of certain countries that have dimple borders reminiscent of the chiseled coins.