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.'

Interesting timing Jim. Our local news recently reported that Spring, 2021 is the year of our Brood X (or 17 year) cicada emergence. I remember the last time it was supposed to happen and we didn't notice any major eruption in our neighborhood. https://www.phillymag.com/news/2021/01/28/philadelphia-cicadas/ This is a link to a CBS map of the areas involved - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-brood-x-us-cicada-infestation-coming-in-2021/

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'. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . Therefore, the expression 'losing face.'

Flag down You often hear the expression “flag down a cab” – even though it simply means waving one’s hand to attract the driver’s attention so he’ll stop. Originally this phrase came from the vocabulary of automobile racing, where the officials signal to the winner that the race is over by waving a flag up and down. This signal is also sometimes used to warn other drivers they should stop or proceed with caution. Trains also are flagged down when emergency conditions warrant and timetables sometimes indicate flag stops, where through trains will stop only when flagged by the stationmaster.