14 August 1861 letter home from University of North Carolina

I'm still trying to work out why his mother didn't want him to eat corn and watermelons! Any idea @CSA Today ?

For someone who loves corn on the cob and watermelon, I have no idea. Folks in olden times did have some quaint ideas, I remember my paternal grandfather telling my brother and me never to eat fruit at night – “Gold in the morning, silver in the afternoon and lead at night.” To be on the safe side I still don't. I believe I read somewhere that tomatoes were considered poisonous until Thomas Jefferson ate one and survived.
 
For someone who loves corn on the cob and watermelon, I have no idea. Folks in olden times did have some quaint ideas, I remember my paternal grandfather telling my brother and me never to eat fruit at night – “Gold in the morning, silver in the afternoon and lead at night.” To be on the safe side I still don't. I believe I read somewhere that tomatoes were considered poisonous until Thomas Jefferson ate one and survived.
It's funny how those ideas come about, often we don't know where they originate. Some of them make sense I suppose, and in this young man's case I'm sure his mother had her reasons. I like that old saying of your grandfather's, though 'lead' sounds a bit heavy to digest before bed :smile: I wonder what kind of food he was referring to?
 
It's funny how those ideas come about, often we don't know where they originate. Some of them make sense I suppose, and in this young man's case I'm sure his mother had her reasons. I like that old saying of your grandfather's, though 'lead' sounds a bit heavy to digest before bed :smile: I wonder what kind of food he was referring to?

The best I remember any kind of fruit.
 
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