Some Interesting Facts

[Alan2273]

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. Hence the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."

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.

In the late 1700s, 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."

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women

and men =ad 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 . . therefore, the

expression "losing face."

Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and

dignified woman, as in "straight laced". . . wore a tightly tied lace.

Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax

levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the "Ace of

Spades." To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead.

Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be

stupid or dumb because they weren't "playing with a full deck."

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."

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."

One more: bet you didn't know this!

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.)

[andsome]

Who do you think you're kidding?

[D4\/!d]

yeah, right.

[Thos]

I can go along with most of this except the "brass monkey" bit.

btw did George Washington have false teeth made of wood, or is that a myth?

Thos.

[Gandalph]

I can go along with most of this except the "brass monkey" bit.

btw did George Washington have false teeth made of wood, or is that a myth?

Thos.

Yes he did. They are in a museum in Washington D.C. If you have a look around the web, do a Google search you will come across them. :D

[dadyassa]

Brass monkeys :lol:

Wooden teeth :lol:

[Gandalph]

Brass monkeys :lol:

Wooden teeth :lol:

Actually those are not the teeth that I was referring to. There are a set of wooden false teeth that I have seen on the Web in a museum that are reputed to be George Washington's but it was quite a while ago since I came across the site. Of course the whole thing might have been a hoax, but they did look convincing enough.