The Upper Crust

 Today’s myth: in the Middle Ages and the 16th century in big houses they cut the top off loaves of bread because the bottom might be burned. The upper crust was given to the rich and the burned bottom was given to the servants. So we call the upper class the upper crust. It seems people did sometimes cut off the top of the loaf (it’s mentioned in a book published in the 15th century). 

But it’s most unlikely that is the origin of the phrase. There is no evidence that the upper class was ever called the upper crust at that time. The rich were first called the upper crust in the 19th century, long afterward. The phrase was probably just a joke, comparing them to the upper crust of a loaf. It probably has nothing to do with actual loaves. 🍞

Thoughts on Poverty

  In the 1980s an old man told me that he was born into a reasonably well-off family early in the 20th century. He said that until the radio was coming in about 1925 you didn't see 'the hard side of life'. There were no supermarkets just lots of small shops like grocers, bakers, butchers, etc. People tended to stay in their own area of the city. Middle-class people just didn't see the poverty and hardship that existed in some areas.

In 1923 a woman was murdered in Portsmouth. What shocked people was not just the murder but the terrible conditions she was living in. Most people in the city had no idea those slums existed.

Nottingham

 I wrote a history of the English city of Nottingham 

South Africa

 I wrote a brief history of South Africa 

Leicester

 I wrote a history of the city of Leicester. It began as a Roman town. 

Trinidad

 I wrote a brief history of Trinidad 

A myth about archers and a salute

 Once again, I heard the story that the two-finger gesture started because, in the Middle Ages, French soldiers cut two fingers off captured English archers (or threatened to do that) so they could no longer use a bow. So English archers waved two fingers at the French as a gesture of defiance. It's a myth. The two-finger gesture was first recorded in 1901. It's thought to have started in the 19th century, but nobody is sure how or why.

But there is no evidence it has anything to do with archery. There is no evidence at all that the French ever cut two fingers off captured English archers or threatened to do that. Why would they? If the French captured an English archer, wouldn't it be easier just to kill him? There is, of course, no evidence that English archers ever waved two fingers at the French. Unfortunately, it's an entertaining myth, so it tends to get passed around a lot.