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Peculiar (And Lost) 'Wisdom' & Advice From Our Elders

catseye said:
Some of these things are less 'wisdom' and more 'superstition'. When does something move from being 'folk wisdom' (ie don't swim until 2 hours after eating, open windows during a thunderstorm) into 'superstition' (don't cross knives, no new shoes on the table, etc)? Anyone any ideas?
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I always thought that the' don't swim after eating' thing was good advice- it just seemed correct. Isn't it to do with getting cramp etc?
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
We were told that we couldn't swim for 1/2 hour after eating, that 2 hours is a bit extreme, but I think much of it is an overhang from Victorian times.
We weren't allowed to wear shoes in the house, they were to be taken off at the door. After all, there were no vacuum cleaners in days of old!
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The time before swimming after eating seems to vary by parent. But the 'shoes off' thing is extremely individual - there may not have been vaccuum cleaners, but there weren't fitted carpets either!
 
Floyd1 said:
I always thought that the' don't swim after eating' thing was good advice- it just seemed correct. Isn't it to do with getting cramp etc?
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Apparently it makes absolutely no difference. But I wouldn't really feel like swimming after a heavy meal, although swimming after a couple of sandwiches and an ice cream would be fine.
 
catseye said:
The time before swimming after eating seems to vary by parent. But the 'shoes off' thing is extremely individual - there may not have been vaccuum cleaners, but there weren't fitted carpets either!
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Yes, but taking those heavy carpets outside, hanging them on the clothesline, and banging the dirt out was a lot of work!
 
Iris said:
As a child I was told by an aunt that mirrors had to be covered during a thunderstorm.
She said that she knew someone who had been cut by lightning striking one.
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And we were told as kids that if it started to thunder, we had to get off the telephone, apparently lightning can travel through the lines, or something like that.
 
Floyd1 said:
It's strange when you think how, only a relatively short time ago, things were so different. My Mother had a bureau that had a small drawer on the side in which there were some old batteries and sparkplugs that my Grandad had given me and that I'd occasionally get out to 'play with'.
These young 'uns today..........
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How's anyone going to invent a time machine or faster than light drive without some old spark plugs and batteries to play with?

Back on topic I can't remember the phrase but I was always told/encouraged to work something out for myself before seeking help and that attitude has stayed with me.

Meccano sets now seem to be more like kits rather than sets you work out how to build things with. When Frank Hornby produced some "instructions" on how to make various things from the sets I heard that he put deliberate mistakes in the instructions to encourage the little builders to work their way round the problem.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
And we were told as kids that if it started to thunder, we had to get off the telephone, apparently lightning can travel through the lines, or something like that.
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I think that one may be true! Sure I read somewhere that more people are killed by lightning strikes while on the phone than when outdoors.
 
Concerning bathtub gin; a bathtub would be no good for making distilled spirits, since the vessel has to be closed in order to catch the vapour. Primitive stills would use a sealed vessel with a tapered top, like this copper alembic.
Humdinger_NZ_Gin_10L_Still.png

But I suppose the two handles on the copper vessel look a bit like a bathtub, and maybe a clever coppersmith could make a sealed vessel from a copper hipbath or something. Or maybe they boiled water in a hipbath and immersed the alembic into the water to maintain a constant temperature.
 
Tunn11 said:
How's anyone going to invent a time machine or faster than light drive without some old spark plugs and batteries to play with?

Back on topic I can't remember the phrase but I was always told/encouraged to work something out for myself before seeking help and that attitude has stayed with me.

Meccano sets now seem to be more like kits rather than sets you work out how to build things with. When Frank Hornby produced some "instructions" on how to make various things from the sets I heard that he put deliberate mistakes in the instructions to encourage the little builders to work their way round the problem.
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That is so true - children's imaginations are sparked by the things they played with and did as a child!
 
Tunn11 said:
Meccano sets now seem to be more like kits rather than sets you work out how to build things with. When Frank Hornby produced some "instructions" on how to make various things from the sets I heard that he put deliberate mistakes in the instructions to encourage the little builders to work their way round the problem.
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Didn't need deliberate mistakes with the stuff I had- a second hand meccano kit and a tin with some (second-hand) lego in, neither of which had enough pieces to make anything. With the lego I could just about get three walls for a house.
 
Tunn11 said:
How's anyone going to invent a time machine or faster than light drive without some old spark plugs and batteries to play with?

Back on topic I can't remember the phrase but I was always told/encouraged to work something out for myself before seeking help and that attitude has stayed with me.

Meccano sets now seem to be more like kits rather than sets you work out how to build things with. When Frank Hornby produced some "instructions" on how to make various things from the sets I heard that he put deliberate mistakes in the instructions to encourage the little builders to work their way round the problem.
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I think the replacement of Meccano by Lego is directly responsible for the decline of civilisation. Like replacing tea with coffee.

I do have some reasoning behind that, directly connected to what you say. To get anything but the most basic 'traditional' Meccano model to work, you have to think. The instructions are basic and often incomplete. Manual skills are often required above and beyond simply cliking things together.

I will admit I recently visited the Lego store in Liverpool and was highly impressed by the variety of stuff they now sell, but none of it requires that practical engineering input that Meccano requires, not does it have the incremental levels of difficulty that was inherent in the old Meccano progressive set marketing. For those who don't know, you started off at maybe 5 years old with a set '0'' - note they started with zero, a lesson in itself - and progressed, if you were lucky and your Pa was was rich, to a number 10 set by the age of ca. 15, just before, in those days, you learned what girls were for.

To declare an interest I have two Meccano 10 sets and most of a third, plus loads more specialist sets like the 1960's Elektrikit that let you assemble your own solenoids etc. I even have the modern robotics set that can be applied to models going back to the 1920's. not that the current manufacturers know or care.
 
Floyd1 said:
I always thought that the' don't swim after eating' thing was good advice- it just seemed correct. Isn't it to do with getting cramp etc?
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catseye said:
Apparently it makes absolutely no difference. But I wouldn't really feel like swimming after a heavy meal, although swimming after a couple of sandwiches and an ice cream would be fine.
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The theory is that - because the body diverts blood flow to the stomach after eating - you would be prone to leg/arm cramps because of the reduced blood flow to the limbs. Either that or the activity would redirect the blood to the limbs and you'd get stomach cramp. Apparently the danger of either is extremely small, and research has proven it would not be nearly enough to cause a disaster.

Swimming after a large meal is probably a bad idea, which is why most people don't feel like swimming after a large meal.


Ronnie Jersey said:
And we were told as kids that if it started to thunder, we had to get off the telephone, apparently lightning can travel through the lines, or something like that.
Click to expand...
Tunn11 said:
I think that one may be true! Sure I read somewhere that more people are killed by lightning strikes while on the phone than when outdoors.
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I have read conflicting opinion on this. Some experts say that the tiny wires of landline phones couldn't carry enough charge to seriously injure someone, but others say there are cases which clearly show death by electrocution where the phone sockets are burned out. A middle-ground opinion places the blame on water or gas pipes that run near the telephone wiring within the wall.


eburacum said:
Concerning bathtub gin; a bathtub would be no good for making distilled spirits, since the vessel has to be closed in order to catch the vapour. Primitive stills would use a sealed vessel with a tapered top, like this copper alembic.
Humdinger_NZ_Gin_10L_Still.png

But I suppose the two handles on the copper vessel look a bit like a bathtub, and maybe a clever coppersmith could make a sealed vessel from a copper hipbath or something. Or maybe they boiled water in a hipbath and immersed the alembic into the water to maintain a constant temperature.
Click to expand...

I have read that true bathtub gin (or whiskey, rum, etc.) was made of pure alcohol - which the booze-maker purchased rather than distilled at home - mixed with water and flavorings in the tub. There is also the theory mentioned further up that the alcohol and flavorings were mixed and bottled, then the water from the bathtub tap was used to top it off and bring the strength down to drinkable levels. Of course if you were distilling at home you could mix the ingredients in the tub before distilling.
 
escargot said:
It's superstition, supposed to go back centuries or more.
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As someone 'of a faith', I've always said "Superstition is a disbelief in gods."
Superstitions and relevent behaviour isn't reliant on time.
Consider whistling while you worked on stage. Sounds silly, eh? You're not allowed to whistle on stage?
But when off-work sailors were used as stage-hands, they were used to using whistles as signals. Thus, a 'careless' whistle might drop a curtain on an actor.
So ...
The 'superstition' of not whistling while on stage is based (long ago) on practical reasons, not saying the name "Macbeth" is, well, a superstitious one.
Like it's unlucky to walk under a ladder. Well, yeah, not for 'bad luck' but because some twat on that ladder might drop a bucket of water/paint. Not walking under a 'risk zone' isn't superstition but common sense!
 
Cochise said:
I think the replacement of Meccano by Lego is directly responsible for the decline of civilisation. Like replacing tea with coffee.

I do have some reasoning behind that, directly connected to what you say. To get anything but the most basic 'traditional' Meccano model to work, you have to think. The instructions are basic and often incomplete. Manual skills are often required above and beyond simply cliking things together.

I will admit I recently visited the Lego store in Liverpool and was highly impressed by the variety of stuff they now sell, but none of it requires that practical engineering input that Meccano requires, not does it have the incremental levels of difficulty that was inherent in the old Meccano progressive set marketing. For those who don't know, you started off at maybe 5 years old with a set '0'' - note they started with zero, a lesson in itself - and progressed, if you were lucky and your Pa was was rich, to a number 10 set by the age of ca. 15, just before, in those days, you learned what girls were for.

To declare an interest I have two Meccano 10 sets and most of a third, plus loads more specialist sets like the 1960's Elektrikit that let you assemble your own solenoids etc. I even have the modern robotics set that can be applied to models going back to the 1920's. not that the current manufacturers know or care.
Click to expand...
I'm always surprised by how many people have used Meccano parts to supplement other hobbies, telescope drives requiring amazing precision for example. Try that with Lego!
 
Stormkhan said:
As someone 'of a faith', I've always said "Superstition is a disbelief in gods."
Superstitions and relevent behaviour isn't reliant on time.
Consider whistling while you worked on stage. Sounds silly, eh? You're not allowed to whistle on stage?
But when off-work sailors were used as stage-hands, they were used to using whistles as signals. Thus, a 'careless' whistle might drop a curtain on an actor.
So ...
The 'superstition' of not whistling while on stage is based (long ago) on practical reasons, not saying the name "Macbeth" is, well, a superstitious one.
Like it's unlucky to walk under a ladder. Well, yeah, not for 'bad luck' but because some twat on that ladder might drop a bucket of water/paint. Not walking under a 'risk zone' isn't superstition but common sense!
Click to expand...
Yes, I get that some superstitions have a distant basis in common sense, like not putting an umbrella up indoors, because you might cause damage or poke someone. But what about things like turning money when it's a new moon? My mum used to do that one. And not putting new shoes on the table - I can understand old shoes, they are filthy, but new ones? And crossing knives?
 
I think the new shoes on tables thing is a hang-over from burial customs. The deceased was laid out for burial using their 'best' clothes, suit and so on, so I imagine if possible they'd put them in new shoes?
Crossing knives reminds one of clashing swords so I suppose it's a sympathetic magic kind of thing. Sometimes you need to do a bit of digging for explanations:
As far as I know, the idea of seven years bad luck if you break a mirror comes from when making mirrors was the province of skilled artisans, such as those famed of Venice. IIRC, if a worker dropped or broke a mirror then they'd have to serve a further seven years in order to make up for the expense.
 
Not bringing certain plants into the house? Where does that come from? Especially since it seems to - at various times - encompass practically every example from the botanical world. Several wild flowers are known as 'mother-death' for that reason.
 
My mother said often that it's the second mouse that gets the cheese. I understood what that meant in terms of mice but in terms of my day to day life as a kid? I just didn't get it and I still don't.
 
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