Brass Monkey Balls?

This is interesting.

>In  George Washington's days, there were no cameras.
>> One's image  was
>> either  sculpted or painted. Some paintings of
>> George  Washington
>> showed him standing  behind a desk with one arm
>> behind his  back while
>> others showed both legs and  both arms. Prices
>> charged by  painters
>> were not based on how many people were  to be
>> painted, but by  how many
>> limbs were to be painted.   Arms and  legs are
>> "limbs," therefore
>> painting them would cost the buyer  more. Hence the
>> ___expression.
>> "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a  leg."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> As  incredible as it sounds, men and women took
>> baths only twice a
>> year!  (May and October) Women kept their hair
>> covered, while men
>> shaved  their  heads (because of lice and bugs) and
>> wore wigs. Wealthy
>> men could  afford good  wigs made from wool. The
>> wigs couldn't be
>> washed, so to  clean them they could  carve out a
>> loaf of bread, put
>> the wig in the  shell, and bake it for 30  minutes.
>> The heat would make
>> the wig big and  fluffy, hence the term "big  wig."
>> Today we often use
>> the term "here  comes the Big Wig"  because someone
>> appears to be or is
>> powerful and  wealthy.
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> In the late  1700s, many houses consisted of a large
>> room with only!
>> one chair. Commonly,  a long wide board was folded
>> down from the wall and
>> used for  dining.  The "head of the household"
>> always sat in the chair
>> while  everyone else  ate sitting on the floor. Once
>> in a while, a
>> guest (who was  almost  always a man) would be
>> invited to sit in this
>> chair during a meal. To  sit in the chair meant you
>> were important and
>> in charge. Sitting in the  chair, one was called the
>> "chair man."
>> Today in business we use the  ___expression or title
>> "Chairman or
>> Chairman of the  Board."
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> Needless  to  say, personal hygiene left much room
>> for improvement.
>> As a result, many  women and men had developed acne
>> scars by
>> adulthood. The women would  spread  bee's wax over
>> their facial skin to
>> smooth out their  complexions. When they  were
>> speaking to each other,
>> if a woman began to  stare at another woman's  face
>> she was told "mind
>> your own bee's wax."  Should the woman  smile, the
>> wax would crack,
>> hence the term "crack a  smile."   Also, when they
>> sat too close to
>> the fire, the wax would  melt and  therefore the
>> ___expression  "losing
>> face."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> Ladies  wore corsets that were laced up in the
>> front. A tightly
>> tied Lace was  worn by  a proper and dignified lady
>> as in  "straight
>> laced."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Common  entertainment included playing cards.
>> However, there was a
>> tax levied  when  purchasing playing cards, but only
>> applicable to the
>> "ace of  Spades" To avoid paying the tax, people
>> would purchase 51
>> cards  instead.  Yet, since most games require 52
>> cards, these people
>> were  thought to be stupid or dumb because they
>> weren't "playing with a
>> full  deck."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Early  politicians required feedback from the public
>> to determine
>> what was  considered important to the people. Since
>> there were no
>> telephones,  TVs, or  radios, the politicians sent
>> their assistants to
>> local taverns,  pubs, and bars,  who were told to
>> "go sip some ! ale"
>> and listen to  people's  conversations and political
>> concerns. Many
>> assistants were  dispatched at  different times.
>> "You go sip here" and
>> "You go sip  there." The two words "go sip" were
>> eventually combined
>> when  referring to the local opinion and, thus we
>> have the  term
>> "gossip."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> At  local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from
>> pint and quart
>> sized  containers.   A barmaid's job was to keep an
>> eye on  the
>> customers  and keep the drinks coming. She had to
>> pay close  attention
>> and remember who  was drinking in "pints" and who
>> was drinking  in
>> "quarts,"  hence the term "minding your Ps and  Qs."
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Also,  bet  you didn't know this!!!!
>>
>> In  the heyday of sailing  ships, all war ships and
>> many freighters
>> carried iron  cannons. Those  cannons fired round
>> iron cannon balls. It
>> was necessary to  keep a good  supply near the
>> cannon, but how to
>> prevent them from rolling  about the  deck?
>>
>> The best storage method devised was a square based
>> pyramid  with one ball
>> on top,  resting on four resting on nine, which
>> rested on  sixteen.
>> Thus, a supply ! of  30 cannon balls could be
>> stacked in a  small area
>> right next to the cannon.  There was only one
>> problem how to  prevent
>> the bottom layer from sliding or  rolling from under
>> the  others.
>> The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey"
>> with 16  round
>> indentations. But, if this plate were made of iron,
>> the iron  balls
>> would  quickly rust to it.
>> The solution to the rusting  problem was to make
>> "Brass Monkeys." Few
>> landlubbers realize that brass  contracts much more
>> and much faster
>> than iron  when  chilled.
>> Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far,
>> the  brass!
>> indentations would shrink  so much that the iron
>> cannon balls  would
>> come right off the monkey.
>> Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold  enough to
>> freeze the balls off a
>> Brass  Monkey". (And all this time, you  thought
>> that was an improper
>> __expression, didn't  you?)
>>