"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" refers to when people only took baths once a year or so. On "Bath Day" the head of the household would get to bathe with the clean water, then the sons (oldest to youngest) then the wife, and the daughters, and last of all, the babies. By that time, the water was so murky you could lose the little one in the water if you weren't careful!
Ever wonder why there are so many wedding in June? Or why the Bride carries a bouquet of flowers? With bathing only once a year, Bath Day was traditionally in May, so if you got married in June, you still smelled pretty good, as opposed to getting married after the summer swelter. But since it had been a month or so, the bride carried the bouquet of fragrant flowers to hide any odors from her intended.
Other amusing ones that don't really have anything to do with bathing are:
"Raining cats & dogs" is from the time when we used to thatch our houses with straw, and the animals would climb up into the roof to keep warm. When it rained, of course, the straw would get soft, and the animal's weight couldn't be supported, and the would fall through the roof, 'raining' into the house below.
Coincidently, that's why people had canopy beds, which were hard-topped to begin with. It kept the animals (and other various debris and bugs) from falling onto your head while you were sleeping.
And going a little morbid for a few minutes:
A 'Wake' comes from the times when lead cups were used in bars, and people occasionally succumbed to lead poisoning on their way home from the local pub, passing out "dead drunk" on the street and being mistaken for being dead. They would be brought home to their families, where they would be laid out on a table and the family would drink and eat and wait and see if the person woke up. If after 3 days they didn't, they were pronounced dead and buried.
Around this time, England was having a problem with overcrowding of cemeteries. They would dig up graves to bury more people in the same place. Because of the tendency to bury people who weren't actually dead, and because more then a few times when they dug someone up there were nail marks on the lid, they started to tie a string around the supposed deceased's wrist that was connected to a bell above ground. A person was stationed to sit in the graveyard all night and listen for the "dead ringers" to dig someone up should the need arise. That is where we get "Graveyard Shift" from.
Ok, that's enough. I hope you've enjoyed this random, yet semi-educational journey into the random facts in my mind, even if not totally bath-related. If you know any interesting facts, please comment with them because I just love this kind of stuff. It's very interesting.
Good Night Moon! (and everyone under it's gossamer glow)
~m
