Food for Thought

[Judy Ann]

I ran across this today and thought others might enjoy reading how some sayings came about.

How Things Used to Be

 

[oldsarge]

How interesting, thanks for posting!

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Very interesting...and probably lots of truth to it.

 

[ghostdog]

I don’t have to wonder. My Viking mother and her seven sisters and brothers were born and raised on the north slopes of the Ouachita Mountains away from any small town. She was born in the middle of the Great Depression. They had no electricity, no car and no running water. If they wanted to cook or heat, they lit a fire. If they wanted to eat, they grew it, hunted it or traded for it. All of them were born in the little house my granddaddy built. I never met him as he was old enough by the time my mother was born to be her grandfather. He passed when she was 16 so she learned to be very self-sufficient. My uncle still lives like that in the same area, no electricity or running water. He does have an old truck.

I visited their old homestead once but the house had fallen down. Their old apple tree was huge but it was dead. The well was down the hill some. My mother showed me all kinds of things they used from the woods and mountain.

I did know my Granny. She had all kinds of sayings that my mother took and used after Granny was gone. Granny had some that only she could say right though. I hated her banny rooster though. That thing flogged my four year old behind every time I walked out her door. She would come out and shoo it off. She had seen it all, walked behind a covered wagon from the Carolinas to the mountains when she was 11 years old. They made do, were their own doctors most of the time and learned to get the most from very little. One things I will always remember about her is how the running water amazed her every time she turned it on in her later years when she was out of the mountains.

 

[JeepThrills]

I have read that before, but it was good to see it again. We learned a lot about long ago castle living when we visited Ireland. It made me appreciate that I missed the medieval times!

 

[hummingbird]

There are a lot of things I can remember us doing when I was a kid that weren't that far off of the mark. One thing I was shocked to learn that people don't do any more is the practice of making a carpet which goes around the bed but not UNDER the bed. A very frugal practice which was something we still did when I was small.

 

[TakeAHike]

I had a blast reading that even though I already knew a lot of those things. It is really interesting to look back at what we take for granted these days.

 

[Grandpa]

Great posting Judy. A lot of laughs and a lot of truths too. I remember the Saturday baths in the galvanized tub, however, us youngest kids got the first tub full of water because we had our baths around mid-day. I think I was 4 or 5 when Dad finally plumbed the old house with water, and bought a refridgerator. Of course that means I can still remember the coffee can under the bed at nights. That was because we had a path instead of a bath. And in the middle of the night, that path was long and cold, hence the coffee can under the bed. And I still have the old ice box they used before that first fridge.

 

[Hikenhunter]

I grew up with out a bathroom in the house but no one left me have a coffee can. I made many a cold trip to the OH in the middle of the night and sitting on that darn frosted wooden seat was not something I ever looked forward to.

 

[jason]

Hi...


Very interesting...and probably lots of truth to it.

Well if you are interested Snopes has something on most of this, although their message is slightly different. snopes.com: Life in the 1500s

 

[ghostdog]

I grew up with out a bathroom in the house but no one left me have a coffee can. I made many a cold trip to the OH in the middle of the night and sitting on that darn frosted wooden seat was not something I ever looked forward to.

Thanks goodness for indoor plumbing and some of the other benevolent luxuries we are fortunate enough to have in these times. I don't mind rough camping for a couple weeks or so but overall these things are good to have in life.

 

[Grandpa]

Well my old outhouse is still functional and has a nice hardwood seat with a lid to keep the frost off. I keep it painted up just in case....:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

 

[Pathfinder1]

jason;
Well if you are interested Snopes has something on most of this, although their message is slightly different.




Hi...


Also most interesting. Thanks.

 

[Marshmallow]

I've read this before, and I never fail to be amazed at how far we've come. Children now couldn't imagine, could they? My aunt had an outhouse. I think it's still there, but I'll have to check the next time I visit her. I remember their chamber pot she kept in the house for when the weather was bad. She kept it in the closet.

 

[ChadTower]

Snopes wrings the fun out of everything.