This list will probably interest only Australians.

I was reading a book, which I think was called World Class Brands. It listed brands that were, not necessarily world-wide brands, but world class brands, i.e. brands that were the best and classiest.

These are the Australian brands they included.

Tony Blair's Labour Government sent out a little leaflet to all British households in 2002, letting the electorate what he was spending the money on. I've not known a government to do this before, and it was interesting to have the figure at my fingertips (so to speak).

Where taxpayers money is spent
(all figures in £ billion)
Total managed expenditure	418
Social security	115
Other personal and social services	15
NHS	65
Transport	14
Education	54
Defence	24
Debt interest	21
Industry, agriculture and employment	17
Law & order	24
Housing & environment	20
Other*	49
*includes central administration, culture, media and sport, international cooperation and development and public service pensions plus spending yet to be allocated

Where taxes come from
(all figures in £ billion)
Total receipts	407
Council tax	16
Income tax	118
National Insurance	65
Excise duties	38
Corporation tax	33
VAT	64
Business rates	19
Other**	55
**includes capital taxes, stamp duties, vehicle excise

Then in 2006 there was a television program exploring the way that Britain as a whole (not just the government) earnt its money.

How the money is earnt
%
Rent	11
Construction	5
Mining	2
Forestry, fishing, farming	1
Utilities	2
Transport & communications	5
Manufacturing	13
Creative sector	9
Retail	12
Personal services e.g. hairdresser	5
Government services e.g. education	13
Private services	5
Finance	17

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the B.O.

Baths equalled 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 fnally the children. Last of all the babies. By then, the water was so dirty you could actually loose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

Houses had thatched roofs. Thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets, i.e. dogs, cats, and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs lived in the roof. When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs".

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with big posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence, the saying "dirt poor".

The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed at the entryway, hence a "thresh hold".

They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly ate vegetables and didn't get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next dav. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been in there for a month. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old".

Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat".

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes... for 400 years. Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers - pieces of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth".

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust".

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake".

This is one of those things that did the round on e-mail. Don't know if any of it is actually true.