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Show was practically no mention of laundry and its vvorJc. This was I because there was no "body linen" or clothes to launder. We men-tior.i-d that the knowledge of dyeing dye-ing and dye stuffs was important; this because clothes of silk, woo', and velvet when soiled, were put into the dye pot and thus re-dyed and cleansed. As for underwear, as we know it, there was none. During the middle ages, men wore an under tunic, knee-length. Women wore an under tunic longer and of course with long sleeves. These articles were not underwear in our sense, that is, of fine linen or cotton and silk. They were heavier and could be dyed too. Even table linen and bed linen was not known so there was little, if any need to do much laundering. As we know, forks were introduced intro-duced into England from Italy, in Queen Elizabeth's time, and before this only the fingers and a sharp knife were used for eating. Thomas Coryats in 1608, cites the discovery of forks as important as the discovery of America, and causing much more discussion. Forks brought many advancements, advance-ments, and after them the use of table napkins became popular. Before this, a servant carried water in a pitcher or basin and a towel over his arm with which one cleaned hands and lips of greasy foods. During Queen Elizabeth's time, a 'book of courtesy' noted that it was very bad form to stroke a dog or cat at table. (People ate with their hands, and refuse was thrown on the floor. Dogs and cats were invited to all feasts to serve a useful purpose) Also, a quest at table was not to pick his teeth with his knife. Xidawrigrrb In comparing our times witn that of the past, we note some fascinating items concerning clothes. For example, in the previous pre-vious article, listing requirements that a woman must mtet to become be-come a qualified house-wife, there |