Many old sayings are also horse racing term. The phrase ‘START FROM SCRATCH” comes from the days when a line was scratched in the ground for a race. The racers would start from the scratch. WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for Beginning Genealogists with On-line resources
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DYK: Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?
In olden times, people were very superstitious. They believed that all good in a man was on his right side and all bad was on his left. If you got out of bed on the left side, evil forces would follow you all day long. Most innkeepers had the left sides of the bed against […]
The Marvelous Water Filter – what ingenuity!
THE MARVELOUS WATER FILTER For several years our dug well had not provided enough water for our family needs. It had an electric pump and a pressure tank. Two baths and the well was dry. A drilling company was called in and bored a two hundred foot well. The drilled well provided plenty of water, […]
DYK: She was spinning a good yarn
Many old sayings come from nautical terms as is the case with ‘Spinning a a yarn’. Rope was made in ports everywhere. The rope makers chatted while they worked. They told each other stories while they were spinning a yarn. WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for Beginning Genealogists with On-line resources
Cutting a log at a saw mill this way seems awful dangerous
SHARPENING SAW MILL BLADES by Jesse Suttles A note about “Saw Mills” My Granddad on my Mother’s side of the family ran a saw mill. In North East Texas. His son told me some stories about the every day life at the mill. He said that his Dad was the only one that filed (sharpened) […]
DYK: A tavern wench needed to mind her “P’s & Q’s”
Did you know that….. In olden days, a tavern wench was often told to “Mind her P’s and Q’s” because…. she served ale in pints and quarts. She kept track of her orders on a slate with P in one corner and Q in the opposite corner so she wouldn’t overcharge or undercharge patrons. […]
DYK: Where you sit at dinner may be important
Did you know that…. In the seventeenth century, a person’s social standing determined what he or she ate at dinners. The best and most expensive food was placed next to the most important people. Also, people didn’t tend to sample everything that was on the table, they just ate what was closest to them. […]
It Smells like a Polecat – How could you mistake it?
It Smells Like A Polecat by Inez McCollum How could any animal be more beautiful than a skunk! Nature dictates that a “red flag” come up whenever you see one. I recently saw the first skunk I had seen in many years. That experience brought back some memories of long ago. For some reason skunks […]
Great photographs of the streets of New York in 1938 – Can you identify the location?
Do you know the location? Photographer Jack Allison from the Farm Security Administration took these great photographs on the streets of New York in 1938 VINEGAR OF THE FOUR THIEVES: Recipes & curious tips from the past See best-selling books by Donna R Causey WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for Beginning […]
DYK: True meaning of Moot Point
DYK: Did you know? MOOT POINT – which means and irrelevant Argument comes from the Saxon word moot or mote, which meant a meeting to discuss things. In medieval England, moots, or meets, were assemblies or councils where points of government were debated. The country was split into juridicial areas called hundreds and administered via assemblies known […]