As Annabelle plays upon her lute, her father sports on his head a paste of garlic, honey, and wormwood created by his barber to remedy baldness. Each spread in Turn of the Century highlights life in a milestone year. Accompanying each spread is a fact box, which provides students with additional information and insight into life in another time. Many people have never seen one. People use sundials to tell time, but many do not know the date or year.
Most children work alongside their parents from dawn to dusk, farming a small plot of land.
Many people live their entire lives without handling money. Paper is unknown in England, which his called Angle-land. The New Year begins on March 25, not January 1. For instance, a cat has just caught a rat on board the boat where Samuel Brewster is a ship's boy in 1500. Young Samuel gives the front part of the rat to the cat to eat.