OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Angela / Kentuck » Tue, 27 Apr 1999 04:00:00



Thank you Sharon.  That was absolutely incredibly interesting!

--
Angela
Elizabethtown, KY USA

Quote:
> I recieved this in an email....thought some of you guys might like to read
it!
> Wish I knew who to credit.
> Sharon P.

> GOOD INFO ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST AND SOME TERMS THAT CAME OUT
OF
> EVERYDAY LIFE.

>   Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Shakespeare.  She married at the
>  age of 26.  This is really unusual for the time. Most people married
>   young, like at the age of 11 or 12.  Life was not as romantic as we may
>   picture it.  Here are some examples:

>   Anne Hathaway's home was a 3 bedroom house with a small
>  parlor, which was seldom used (only for company), kitchen,
>   and no bathroom.

>   Mother and Father shared a bedroom.  Anne had a queen sized
>   bed, but did not sleep alone.  She also had two sisters and they
>   shared the bed with six servant girls.  (this is before she married).
>   They didn't sleep like we do length-wise but all laid on the bed
>   crosswise.

>   At least they had a bed.  The other bedroom was shared by her 6
>   brothers and 30 field workers.  They didn't have a bed. Everyone just
>   wrapped up in their blanket and slept on the floor. They had no indoor
>   heating so all the extra bodies kept them warm.

>   They were also small people, the men only grew to be about 5'6" and
>   the women were 4'8".  So in their house they had 27 people living.

>   Most people got married in June.  Why?  They took their yearly bath
>   in May, so   they were still smelling pretty good by June, although they
>   were starting to smell, so the brides would carry a bouquet of flowers
to
>   hide their b.o.

>   Like I said, they took their yearly bath in May, but it was just a big
>   tub that they would fill with hot water. The man of the house would
>   get the privilege of the nice clean water. Then all the other sons and
>   men, then the women and finally  the children. Last were the babies.
>   By then the water was pretty thick.  Thus, the saying, "don't throw
>   the baby out with the bath water," it was so dirty you could actually
>    lose someone in it.

>   I'll describe their houses a little.  You've heard of thatch roofs,
>   well that's all they were.  Thick straw, piled high, with no wood
>   underneath.  They were the only place for the little animals to get
>   warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice,
>   rats, bugs, all lived in the roof.  When it rained it became slippery
>   so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.  Thus the
>   saying, "it's raining cats and dogs,"

>   Since there was nothing to stop things from falling into the house
>   they would just try to clean up a lot.  But this posed a real problem
>   in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings from animals
>   could really mess up your nice clean bed, so they found if they
>   would make beds with big posts and hang a sheet over the top it
>   would prevent that problem.  That's where those beautiful big 4
>    poster beds with canopies came from.

>   When you came into the house you would notice most times
>   that the floor was dirt.  Only the wealthy had something other
>   than dirt, that's where the saying "dirt poor" came from.

>   The wealthy would have slate floors.  That was fine but in the winter
>   they would get slippery when they got wet.  So they started to
>   spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing.  As the winter
>   wore on they would just keep adding it and adding it until when you
>   opened the door it would all start slipping outside.  So they put a
>    piece of wood at the entry way, a "thresh hold".

>   In the kitchen they would cook over the fire; they had a fireplace
>   in the kitchen/parlor, that was seldom used and sometimes in the
>   master bedroom.  They had a big kettle that always hung over the
>   fire and every day they would light the fire and start adding things
>    to the pot.

>   Mostly they ate vegetables, they didn't get much meat. They
>   would eat the stew for dinner then leave the leftovers in the
>   pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.
>   Sometimes the stew would have food in it that had been in there
>   for a month!  Thus the rhyme:  peas porridge hot, peas porridge
>    cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

>   Sometimes they could get a hold on some pork.  They really
>   felt special when that happened and when company came over
>   they even had a rack in the parlor where they would bring out
>   some bacon and hang it to show it off.  That was a sign of wealth
>   and that a man "could really bring home the bacon."  They would
>   cut off a little to share with guests and they would all sit around
>   and "chew the fat."

>   If you had money your plates were made out of pewter. Sometimes
>   some of their food had a high acid content and some of the lead
>   would leach out into the food.  They really noticed it happened
>   with tomatoes. So they stopped eating tomatoes, for 400 years.

>   Most people didn't have pewter plates though, they all had trenchers,
>   that was a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.
>   They never washed their boards and a lot of times worms would
>   get into the wood.  After eating off the trencher with worms they
>   would get "trench mouth." If you were going traveling and wanted to
>   stay at an Inn they usually provided the bed but not the board.

>   The bread was divided according to status.  The workers would
>   get the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family would get the middle
>    and guests would get the top, or the "upper crust".

>   They also had lead cups, and when they would drink their ale or
>   whiskey, the combination would sometimes knock them out for a
>   couple of days.  They would be walking along the road and here
>   would be someone knocked out and they thought they were
>   dead.  So they would pick them up and take them home and get
>   them ready to bury.  They realized if they were too slow about
>   it, the person would wake up; also, maybe not. So they would lay
>   them out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, the family would
>   gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake  up.
>   That's where the custom of holding a "wake" came from.

>   Since England is so old and small they started running out of places
>   to bury people.  So they started digging up some coffins and would
>   take their bones to a house and re-use the grave. They started
>   opening these coffins and found some had scratch marks on
>   the inside.

>   One out of 25 coffins were that way and they realized they had still
>   been burying people alive.  So they thought they would tie a string
>   on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the
>   ground and tie it to a bell.  Someone would have to sit out in the
>   graveyard all night to listen for the bell.  That is how the saying
>   "graveyard shift" was made.  If the bell would ring they would know
>   that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer".

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by MSJC6561 » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00


I recieved this in an email....thought some of you guys might like to read it!
Wish I knew who to credit.
Sharon P.

GOOD INFO ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST AND SOME TERMS THAT CAME OUT OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.

  Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Shakespeare.  She married at the
 age of 26.  This is really unusual for the time. Most people married
  young, like at the age of 11 or 12.  Life was not as romantic as we may
  picture it.  Here are some examples:

  Anne Hathaway's home was a 3 bedroom house with a small
 parlor, which was seldom used (only for company), kitchen,
  and no bathroom.

  Mother and Father shared a bedroom.  Anne had a queen sized
  bed, but did not sleep alone.  She also had two sisters and they
  shared the bed with six servant girls.  (this is before she married).
  They didn't sleep like we do length-wise but all laid on the bed
  crosswise.                                                                  

  At least they had a bed.  The other bedroom was shared by her 6
  brothers and 30 field workers.  They didn't have a bed. Everyone just
  wrapped up in their blanket and slept on the floor. They had no indoor
  heating so all the extra bodies kept them warm.

  They were also small people, the men only grew to be about 5'6" and
  the women were 4'8".  So in their house they had 27 people living.

  Most people got married in June.  Why?  They took their yearly bath
  in May, so   they were still smelling pretty good by June, although they
  were starting to smell, so the brides would carry a bouquet of flowers to
  hide their b.o.

  Like I said, they took their yearly bath in May, but it was just a big
  tub that they would fill with hot water. The man of the house would
  get the privilege of the nice clean water. Then all the other sons and
  men, then the women and finally  the children. Last were the babies.
  By then the water was pretty thick.  Thus, the saying, "don't throw
  the baby out with the bath water," it was so dirty you could actually
   lose someone in it.

  I'll describe their houses a little.  You've heard of thatch roofs,
  well that's all they were.  Thick straw, piled high, with no wood
  underneath.  They were the only place for the little animals to get
  warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice,
  rats, bugs, all lived in the roof.  When it rained it became slippery
  so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.  Thus the
  saying, "it's raining cats and dogs,"

  Since there was nothing to stop things from falling into the house
  they would just try to clean up a lot.  But this posed a real problem
  in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings from animals
  could really mess up your nice clean bed, so they found if they
  would make beds with big posts and hang a sheet over the top it
  would prevent that problem.  That's where those beautiful big 4
   poster beds with canopies came from.

  When you came into the house you would notice most times
  that the floor was dirt.  Only the wealthy had something other
  than dirt, that's where the saying "dirt poor" came from.

  The wealthy would have slate floors.  That was fine but in the winter
  they would get slippery when they got wet.  So they started to
  spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing.  As the winter
  wore on they would just keep adding it and adding it until when you
  opened the door it would all start slipping outside.  So they put a
   piece of wood at the entry way, a "thresh hold".

  In the kitchen they would cook over the fire; they had a fireplace
  in the kitchen/parlor, that was seldom used and sometimes in the
  master bedroom.  They had a big kettle that always hung over the
  fire and every day they would light the fire and start adding things
   to the pot.

  Mostly they ate vegetables, they didn't get much meat. They
  would eat the stew for dinner then leave the leftovers in the
  pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.
  Sometimes the stew would have food in it that had been in there
  for a month!  Thus the rhyme:  peas porridge hot, peas porridge
   cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

  Sometimes they could get a hold on some pork.  They really
  felt special when that happened and when company came over
  they even had a rack in the parlor where they would bring out
  some bacon and hang it to show it off.  That was a sign of wealth
  and that a man "could really bring home the bacon."  They would
  cut off a little to share with guests and they would all sit around
  and "chew the fat."

  If you had money your plates were made out of pewter. Sometimes
  some of their food had a high acid content and some of the lead
  would leach out into the food.  They really noticed it happened
  with tomatoes. So they stopped eating tomatoes, for 400 years.

  Most people didn't have pewter plates though, they all had trenchers,
  that was a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.
  They never washed their boards and a lot of times worms would
  get into the wood.  After eating off the trencher with worms they
  would get "trench mouth." If you were going traveling and wanted to
  stay at an Inn they usually provided the bed but not the board.

  The bread was divided according to status.  The workers would
  get the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family would get the middle
   and guests would get the top, or the "upper crust".

  They also had lead cups, and when they would drink their ale or
  whiskey, the combination would sometimes knock them out for a
  couple of days.  They would be walking along the road and here
  would be someone knocked out and they thought they were
  dead.  So they would pick them up and take them home and get
  them ready to bury.  They realized if they were too slow about
  it, the person would wake up; also, maybe not. So they would lay
  them out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, the family would
  gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake  up.
  That's where the custom of holding a "wake" came from.

  Since England is so old and small they started running out of places
  to bury people.  So they started digging up some coffins and would
  take their bones to a house and re-use the grave. They started
  opening these coffins and found some had scratch marks on
  the inside.

  One out of 25 coffins were that way and they realized they had still
  been burying people alive.  So they thought they would tie a string
  on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the
  ground and tie it to a bell.  Someone would have to sit out in the
  graveyard all night to listen for the bell.  That is how the saying
  "graveyard shift" was made.  If the bell would ring they would know
  that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer".

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by MissyC » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00


Thanks.  Fascinating.
Melissa C.
 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Deborah Wis » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00


     Thanks! I love reading stuff like this.  It also makes one grateful to have
been born in the 20th century.    Deb Wise

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Patty An » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00


Thanks, Sharon. Very enlightening!
--
Patty Ann
 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Kathy Hoov » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00




Quote:
> Subject: OT.  The Good Old Days...Long!

> Newsgroups: rec.crafts.textiles.needlework

> I recieved this in an email....thought some of you guys might like to read it!
> Wish I knew who to credit.
> Sharon P.

> GOOD INFO ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST AND SOME TERMS THAT CAME OUT OF
> EVERYDAY LIFE.

<snip interesting tidbits>

If you had money your plates were made out of pewter. Sometimes
  some of their food had a high acid content and some of the lead
  would leach out into the food.  They really noticed it happened
  with tomatoes. So they stopped eating tomatoes, for 400 years.

Did they have *tomatoes* in Europe at that time?
The tomato is native to North America.  The rest may very
well be true, as Europeans thought tomatoes (which they called
"love apples") were poisonous. They thought the food was
making them sick, when it was the plates, bowls, etc.  They
didn't know the lead was poisonous.

Kathy

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by elizabet » Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:00:00



Quote:

>Did they have *tomatoes* in Europe at that time?
>The tomato is native to North America.  

Specifically, to Mexico.  The Spaniards were in contact with parts of
Mexico by 1500, and invaded central Mexico in 1520.  Anne Hathaway lived
at the end of the 1500s, and most New World products were imported, at
least as curiousities, by the middle of the century.  But a farmer's
family, or even that of a glover in a country town like Stratford (into
which she married), would not have been likely to have much experience
with them.

As far as their perception as poisonous, potatoes and tomatoes are
members of the (deadly) nightshade family, a fact of which Europeans of
that period were perfectly aware.  Various herbals, garden manuals, and
scholarly treatises in the late 1500s and early 1600s noted the
relationship and advised against eating both, but suggested them as
ornamental garden novelties.  There's no need for the lead- leaching
theory to explain the belief.

Leached- lead poisoning is sneaky, anyway, and takes a long time to
develop perceptable symptoms, so it would have been difficult for people
to identify the source.  In any case, many Renaissance sauces were fairly
acid anyway, with verjuice (sour grape or crabapple juice), citrus
juices, or vinegar.  (You must try my Chicken After *** Duffeld's
Way, sometime.  Orange juice, herbs, and chicken broth, thickened with
bread crumbs, and it's wonderful... redacted it myself from a receipt
published in 1597.)

The potato was being eaten, as a delicacy on gentle and noble tables, in
England by the mid- 1600s, and the tomato in Italy around the same time.
Somebody must either have been brave enough to try them in defiance of
learned opinion or have been to Mexico or Peru and seen that people there
ate them with no problems.

(On the other hand, my great- grandfather refused to touch tomatoes until
the day he died in 1933 - in spite of watching his whole family grow and
eat them, quite happily, around him - on the grounds of poison.)

--  Elizabeth, historian for the Guild of Historic Arts/ Guilde de St.
Denis, a living history organization that does school programs,
Renaissance faires, etc. in southern California

I am a humble artisan, / Molding my earthly clod / Adding my labor to
Nature1s / Simply assisting God. / Not that my effort is needed, / But,
somehow, I understand: / My Maker has willed it that I, too, should have
/ Unmolded clay in my hand.                                      -- Piet
Hein
Praise then the Darkness, and Creation unfinished.   --  Ursula K. LeGuin

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Constance S Marshal » Thu, 29 Apr 1999 04:00:00


There was a huge discussion of this e-mail on alt.folklore.urban a few weeks
ago.  Most of this information is highly inaccurate.  If any one is
interested, you can look it up in dejanews.  Connie

Quote:


> >Did they have *tomatoes* in Europe at that time?
> >The tomato is native to North America.

> Specifically, to Mexico.  The Spaniards were in contact with parts of
> Mexico by 1500, and invaded central Mexico in 1520.  Anne Hathaway lived
> at the end of the 1500s, and most New World products were imported, at
> least as curiousities, by the middle of the century.  But a farmer's
> family, or even that of a glover in a country town like Stratford (into
> which she married), would not have been likely to have much experience
> with them.

> As far as their perception as poisonous, potatoes and tomatoes are
> members of the (deadly) nightshade family, a fact of which Europeans of
> that period were perfectly aware.  Various herbals, garden manuals, and
> scholarly treatises in the late 1500s and early 1600s noted the
> relationship and advised against eating both, but suggested them as
> ornamental garden novelties.  There's no need for the lead- leaching
> theory to explain the belief.

> Leached- lead poisoning is sneaky, anyway, and takes a long time to
> develop perceptable symptoms, so it would have been difficult for people
> to identify the source.  In any case, many Renaissance sauces were fairly
> acid anyway, with verjuice (sour grape or crabapple juice), citrus
> juices, or vinegar.  (You must try my Chicken After *** Duffeld's
> Way, sometime.  Orange juice, herbs, and chicken broth, thickened with
> bread crumbs, and it's wonderful... redacted it myself from a receipt
> published in 1597.)

> The potato was being eaten, as a delicacy on gentle and noble tables, in
> England by the mid- 1600s, and the tomato in Italy around the same time.
> Somebody must either have been brave enough to try them in defiance of
> learned opinion or have been to Mexico or Peru and seen that people there
> ate them with no problems.

> (On the other hand, my great- grandfather refused to touch tomatoes until
> the day he died in 1933 - in spite of watching his whole family grow and
> eat them, quite happily, around him - on the grounds of poison.)

> --  Elizabeth, historian for the Guild of Historic Arts/ Guilde de St.
> Denis, a living history organization that does school programs,
> Renaissance faires, etc. in southern California

> I am a humble artisan, / Molding my earthly clod / Adding my labor to
> Nature1s / Simply assisting God. / Not that my effort is needed, / But,
> somehow, I understand: / My Maker has willed it that I, too, should have
> / Unmolded clay in my hand.                                      -- Piet
> Hein
> Praise then the Darkness, and Creation unfinished.   --  Ursula K. LeGuin

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by elizabet » Thu, 29 Apr 1999 04:00:00



Quote:

>There was a huge discussion of this e-mail on alt.folklore.urban a few weeks
>ago.  Most of this information is highly inaccurate.  If any one is
>interested, you can look it up in dejanews.  Connie




>> >Did they have *tomatoes* in Europe at that time?
>> >The tomato is native to North America.

>> Specifically, to Mexico.  The Spaniards were in contact with parts of
>> Mexico by 1500, and invaded central Mexico in 1520.  Anne Hathaway lived
>> at the end of the 1500s, and most New World products were imported, at
>> least as curiousities, by the middle of the century.  But a farmer's
>> family, or even that of a glover in a country town like Stratford (into
>> which she married), would not have been likely to have much experience
>> with them.

I do hope you meant the original post, to which I was indirectly
replying, was highly inaccurate, and not me!  :-)

I started out to be an archaeologist, specializing in central Mexico at
the contact period, and I know what I'm talking about with respect to
where the tomato came from.  There were (and are) incredible numbers of
tomato types and tomato- ish other plants in Mexico, only a few of which
were adopted in any way by Europeans, and the Aztec (Nahuatl) word
'tomatl' is the source of the Spanish 'tomate' and our 'tomato'.

I could have criticized other things in the original post, but didn't
feel it was really important enough to start a flame war over.  To be
honest, I thought it sounded like someone's memory of the guide's
memorized spiel at one of the commercial- tourist- attraction
reproductions of Anne Hathaway's cottage (or, for all I know, the real
one - it's been years since I was there - but I'd hope they'd do a little
better).

alt.folklore.urban specializes in debunking urban legends, so it doesn't
surprize me that they'd have taken this one on.  They are not terribly
tolerant of newbies and folks- who- haven't- read- the- FAQ over there,
though, and have several unique a.f.u-isms, so lurk a while (and read the
FAQ) before you post.

--  Elizabeth

I am a humble artisan, / Molding my earthly clod / Adding my labor to
Nature1s / Simply assisting God. / Not that my effort is needed, / But,
somehow, I understand: / My Maker has willed it that I, too, should have
/ Unmolded clay in my hand.       -- Piet Hein
Praise then the Darkness, and Creation unfinished.   --  Ursula K. LeGuin

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Kenz » Thu, 29 Apr 1999 04:00:00


Quote:

>   They were also small people, the men only grew to be about 5'6" and
>   the women were 4'8".  So in their house they had 27 people living.

Poll tax would have gone down a bomb then - LOL

Kate Hare
--
www.albanyhill.com
Albany Hill Original Tapestry Kits / Charts
Remove '_nospamxxx' from the eMail address!

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Kathy Hoov » Thu, 29 Apr 1999 04:00:00



Quote:


> >Did they have *tomatoes* in Europe at that time?
> >The tomato is native to North America.  

> Specifically, to Mexico.  The Spaniards were in contact with parts of
> Mexico by 1500, and invaded central Mexico in 1520.  Anne Hathaway lived
> at the end of the 1500s, and most New World products were imported, at
> least as curiousities, by the middle of the century.  But a farmer's
> family, or even that of a glover in a country town like Stratford (into
> which she married), would not have been likely to have much experience
> with them.
<snip great info>
> --  Elizabeth, historian for the Guild of Historic Arts/ Guilde de St.
> Denis, a living history organization that does school programs,
> Renaissance faires, etc. in southern California

Thanks Elizabeth for the reminder...I was once an archaeology
major (in a former life in the late 70's) but I have forgotten
most of it!  My brain is now cluttered with other trivia, but
I did love history and archaeology (still do, and watch every
related show I can find on TV--and not much else).

Kathy

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Martina Web » Fri, 30 Apr 1999 04:00:00



Quote:
>I recieved this in an email....thought some of you guys might like to read it!
>Wish I knew who to credit.
>Sharon P.

>GOOD INFO ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST AND SOME TERMS THAT CAME OUT OF
>EVERYDAY LIFE.

snipped the long and informative text

Thank you, Sharon for posting this. It is truly very interesting, as
Shakespear and his time was my theme in university then.... and though
I got some of the circumstances of those times and tried to "imagine"
your text is even better.
I slept quite well tonight in my own king-sized bed :-) - beware of
more then two people lying in it!!!!!!! Or, at least 2,5 -- as there
still are days when DD creeps into our cave at night, when there is a
thunderstorm she is faster on my pillow then the first thunder
rolls....
best regards,
  Martina
    ***
!!! Please note my new e-mail !!!

  Martina Weber
  "Chatelaine"
  Design and Needlearts
  Duisburg/Germany
*********************************************************
* http://www.chatelaine.net ==>> FREE CHARTS for download

*********************************************************
*********************************************************

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by Victor & Janette » Sun, 02 May 1999 04:00:00


I HAD to use a harness with my little boy from the time he was 2 until he
was about 3 years old.  I got some dirty looks from people.  But my son had
a habit of just taking off at top speed if he saw something interesting.  It
didn't matter to him if cars were coming or not or whether the crowd was so
thick I couldn't find him.  To those who actually had the nerve to say
something to me about it, I replied, I would much rather keep him on a leash
like a dog than see him hit by a car or have him ***ped.  Now, I never
had to use one with my daughter, she stays right with me and holds my hand.

Janette


Quote:
> Tell me, doesn't the bit about still being tied to Mother's apron strings
come from
> mothers really tying their apron strings to their children to keep them
close by and
> out of trouble?  And DH hates those harness things you use when you take
kids to
> crowded places so much.....funny how attitudes change about things.

> lkr



> > > Subject: OT.  The Good Old Days...Long!

> > > Newsgroups: rec.crafts.textiles.needlework

> > > I recieved this in an email....thought some of you guys might like to
read it!
> > > Wish I knew who to credit.
> > > Sharon P.

> > > GOOD INFO ABOUT THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST AND SOME TERMS THAT CAME
OUT OF
> > > EVERYDAY LIFE.

 
 
 

OT. The Good Old Days...Long!

Post by hgreint.. » Mon, 03 May 1999 04:00:00


On Sat, 1 May 1999 16:42:21 -0000, "Victor & Janette C"

Quote:

>I HAD to use a harness with my little boy from the time he was 2 until he
>was about 3 years old.  I got some dirty looks from people.  But my son had
>a habit of just taking off at top speed if he saw something interesting.  It
>didn't matter to him if cars were coming or not or whether the crowd was so
>thick I couldn't find him.  To those who actually had the nerve to say
>something to me about it, I replied, I would much rather keep him on a leash
>like a dog than see him hit by a car or have him ***ped.  Now, I never
>had to use one with my daughter, she stays right with me and holds my hand.

>Janette

I used a harness for my kids back in the 60's, too.  I sometimes got
ugly looks from folks.  I just told them to try holding their arm
straight up in the air for a long period of time with someone
pulling on it.  The harness is a LOT more comfortable for kids than
having their arms yanked.  
Anne/NC

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Post by gmc2.. » Mon, 03 May 1999 04:00:00


Quote:

>On Sat, 1 May 1999 16:42:21 -0000, "Victor & Janette C"

>>I HAD to use a harness with my little boy from the time he was 2 until he
>>was about 3 years old.  I got some dirty looks from people.  But my son had
>>a habit of just taking off at top speed if he saw something interesting.  It
>>didn't matter to him if cars were coming or not or whether the crowd was so
>>thick I couldn't find him.  To those who actually had the nerve to say
>>something to me about it, I replied, I would much rather keep him on a leash
>>like a dog than see him hit by a car or have him ***ped.  
>>Janette

I also used a harness on my son and HE thought it was FUN to
wear...kind of like a game for him, peace of mind for me.  I also got
looks from people, but hey, when they pay my bills for me, then they
can give unsolicited advice<G>  

Ginger in sunny Florida
ICQ# 24089675