ASTOUND your friends! CONFOUND your enemies!!

Ask your friend (or enemy, not that you have any) the following question. You'll have the answer and will astound or confound, depending on your target.

My friend Kathy Caraher forwarded an email about life in the 1500s, knowing that I would be interested as a retired professor of medieval English literature.

I was surprised that none of this information was a part of what I had learned at Wisconsin. So I started doing some research. Were these facts?

Since you've been hitting my earlier ASTOUND/CONFOUND questions out of the blogpark, I've decided to raise the standards. Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to decide whether the statement is true or false.

Here's your next challenge in this new series:

Q. True or False? In the 1500s, baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"



A.  Send me an email and I'll send you answer.