A ‘Drop in a bucket’ means a very small proportion of the whole. The phrase comes from the Bible, Isaiah 40:15: (King James version) “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Amazon.com – […]
Caught red-handed – To be caught in the act of committing a misdemeanour, with the evidence there for all to see. For hundreds of years, stealing and butchering another person’s livestock was a common crime. But it was hard to prove unless the thief was caught with a dead animal … and blood on his […]
A Well Treated Thermometer A prominent physician of Baltimore tells of an amusing experience of the early days of his practice when he was residing in a small town where by far the majority of the workers were miners. “I was greatly distressed at the unsanitary conditions prevailing in their cottages,” says the doctor. “and, […]
To ‘rack one’s brains’ is to strain mentally to recall or to understand something. The term is used whenever something or someone was under particular stress. The rack was a medieval torture device. The crude but, one presumes, effective racks often tore the victim’s limbs from their bodies. It isn’t surprising that ‘rack’ was adopted as a […]
In colonial days, candles were expensive and took a long time to make, so often reeds were dipped in tallow and burned instead. When visitors came, it was the custom for guests to make their exit by the time the lights went out. Therefore, if your host didn’t want you to stay very long, he […]
(Transcribed from The Opelika Times, Opelika, Alabama August 22, 1879
During the Depression, Circleville, Ohio still had some business operating. Eshelman’s Feed Mill employed 150-200 men the year ’round. The pay averaged about eighty-five cents an hour. Another business, Container Corporation of America made paper out of straw and absorbed the by-product of all neighboring farms. In addition, there were still a number of canneries and […]
Green Corn Pudding recipe from 1879 (Transcribed from the Evergreen Star, Evergreen, Alabama, September 18, 1879) GREEN CORN PUDDING Take six ears of corn and with a sharp knife cut off the corn and chop fine. To this add three pints of milk, three eggs, three dessert-spoonsful of butter, the same amount of sugar and […]
A crazy way to get better vision by Ernie Powers One Friday evening after school my two brothers and myself took our dog and went rabbit hunting. Just south of our house was a section (640) acres) of meadow land; running through this was a slough; on each side of the slough was high grass […]
Second String – in sports today it means not used as one of the regular players on a team. In medieval times, an archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies & TV Shows Anytime – Start Free Trial Now Historical […]
