Quote:
Originally posted by jpb5151
(i have absolutely no idea how to fit special cases such as comas into this, especially since some people recover from comas and others don't)
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Back in the 1500’s, lead or pewter cups were used to drink ale and whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the heavier drinkers out for a couple of days; often into a deep coma. Some collapsed on the way back to their homes.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were cleaned up and laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and invite friends to eat and drink and speak well of the person while they waited to see if he’d wake up.
Hence, the custom of holding a “wake”.