The Victorian Penny Lick: Britain’s Sweet Treat With A Dangerous Side

The Victorian Penny Lick: Britain’s Sweet Treat With A Dangerous Side

Today I want to talk about Victorian street food and something called the “penny lick.” I had never really realised just how popular it once was or how much concern it would later cause. It may sound harmless today, but for many Victorian families it became both a cheap pleasure and a hidden danger.

The penny lick first became popular during the nineteenth century, especially in crowded cities like London. Summers could be hot and dirty, and ice cream offered people a small treat. Italian immigrants helped to introduce and to sell it on British streets, usually from small carts or barrows. Many working-class families could not afford expensive desserts, but a penny was enough to buy a tiny amount of ice cream served in a small thick glass. These glasses became known as penny licks because customers would lick the ice cream off them.

The glasses themselves were usually shallow with a heavy base and they could only hold a few mouthfuls. To Victorian children especially, it must have been an exciting treat.

As the penny lick became more popular, serious problems began to appear. Sellers would often reuse the glasses without properly washing them. In the cities where disease was already spreading easily, it worried health reformers. People were worried that the glasses would spread illnesses, particularly tuberculosis or cholera. Concerns started to grow in the late Victorian period, and newspapers and doctors began criticising the trade.

By the early twentieth century, the penny lick had begun to slowly disappear as edible cones, like the ones that we have today, became more common. Hygiene laws also started to improve. Something that was once seen as a sweet little luxury had highlighted the harsher side of Victorian life.

Do you think health scares like the penny lick helped improve food hygiene standards more quickly?

Tudor Table Manners and the Rules of Dining in Henry VIII’s England

Tudor Table Manners and the Rules of Dining in Henry VIII’s England

Today I want to turn my attention to Tudor manners, and in particular the importance of table manners. In Tudor England, the way somebody behaved at the table could say a huge amount about their status, education, cleanliness, and to some even their morality. Meals became as much a performance as they were a necessity, especially among the wealthier households.

In the late fifteenth century and into the reign of Henry VII, medieval dining habits were still very visible. Many people ate from shared trenchers, which were flat pieces of stale bread that were used as plates, and poorer families would often have shared bowls and cups. Richer families increasingly used pewter. Forks were not really used in England at this point, so most people used their fingers or knives, and spoons. Forks began to become popular with some wealthy travellers later in the sixteenth century but were still unusual. This did not mean that table manners could be ignored. Tudor society expected people to control themselves during meals. Children from wealthier families were taught rules from a young age because behaviour reflected on the family.

During the reign of Henry VIII, dining became a far grander affair in noble households and especially in royal courts. Banquets were hosted that were designed to impress guests and also demonstrate wealth and power. Manners became increasingly important because nobles wanted to appear refined and civilised. People were expected to wash their hands before eating, partly because food was handled directly, but also because cleanliness was associated with good character. Servants would sometimes bring basins and towels before meals began. In some ways this probably did help reduce the spread of dirt and germs, even though Tudor people did not understand bacteria in the modern scientific sense.

There were many strict rules at the Tudor table. People who behaved rudely at a Tudor dinner were mocked, publicly corrected, or would lose the respect of those around them. People were expected not to grab the food greedily, speak with their mouths full, or wipe greasy hands on the tablecloth. Blowing the nose into the tablecloth or spitting across the table was considered exceptionally rude, although unfortunately these things did still happen at times. These are all things that to us would seem like common sense. Diners were expected to cut food neatly, sit properly, and avoid over drinking in formal company. Nobles especially had to appear graceful and controlled because their behaviour reflected honour and social rank. A badly behaved guest could embarrass themselves and their host.

What really interested me was how Tudor etiquette differed from some earlier medieval customs. Medieval feasting was sometimes rougher and louder, but the Tudors were increasingly starting to value more restraint and sophistication, this was influenced in part by the Renaissance ideas that were arriving from Europe.

Dining slowly became a sign of education and self-control. Some of these habits would develop into the far stricter and formal etiquette of the Georgian and Victorian periods, where dozens of specialised utensils and rigid social rules began to appear. Compared to the later centuries, Tudor dining was still surprisingly communal and much more personal.

I wonder how ordinary people of the era felt about all these rules. Do you think that they found them exhausting and pretentious?

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Henry Unton in a banquet

Date: 16th century

Why Fish and Chips Meant So Much To Wartime Britain

Why Fish and Chips Meant So Much To Wartime Britain

I have recently been finding out a little about everyday life on the home front during the Second World War. Today, I want to address another important issue for the British in wartime. Recently we discovered the importance of tea. To the British people it was more than just a drink. It was a comfort and a morale booster. There was something else that was, if not equally important, a very close second, Fish and chips!

When we talk about food in wartime, what comes to mind is ration books, shortages, and long queues, but fish and chips offered something more, it offered comfort. For many people, it was one of the few meals that still felt  normal.

Before the war began in 1939, fish and chips had already become one of Britain’s most popular and most affordable meals. Working-class families were especially able to enjoy them because they were filling, cheap, and easy to buy after work. When war broke out and rationing slowly began to bite, many foods became difficult to get. Bacon, butter, sugar, meat, and sweets were all tightly controlled. People worried constantly about whether there would be enough food to feed their families.

 

Although fish and chips became especially important during the Second World War, they had already helped many working-class families  during the First World War. Food shortages and rising prices did cause a lot of anxiety between 1914 and 1918, but fish and chips were still one of the few hot meals a lot of people could afford.

By the start of the Second World War, they already brought feelings of comfort and familiarity to many British people.

The British government soon realised that fish and chips were more than just a takeaway meal. They were important for morale. Unlike many other foods, fish and chips were not rationed in the same strict way during most of the war. Ministers were worried that if they disappeared, public morale could suffer. Winston Churchill’s government even referred to fish and chips as “the good companions.” Keeping them available became surprisingly important to maintaining a sense of normal life.

This did not mean things were easy. Fishing boats faced huge dangers at sea because of German mines, submarines, and air attacks. Some trawlers were even taken over for the war effort. Potatoes could also become a problem to get hold of, they depended on harvests and there were transport problems. Fish and chip shop owners also struggled with shortages of oil, fuel and staff. Long queues became common outside chip shops, especially after air raids or long shifts in factories. But despite all of this, many shops stayed open whenever they could.

For civilians that were living through blackouts and the bombings, hot fish and chips covered in salt and vinegar and then wrapped in newspaper could provide a brief moment of comfort.

What is so interesting is how something as ordinary as fish and chips became so important during wartime. Was it just about eating? Was it about the familiarity or morale?  Or was it that maybe they were just trying to hold onto something that reminded them of peace? Do you think simple comforts like familiar food become even more important during times of war?

How Victorian Railways Brought Both Progress And Terrifying New Dangers

How Victorian Railways Brought Both Progress And Terrifying New Dangers

I want to find out a little about the railway, and how it changed Victorian Britain. While trains brought with them excitement, speed, and endless opportunity, they also brought a completely new kind of fear. For many Victorian people, the railways were thrilling and unsettling in equal measure. People could travel faster than ever before, but there were accidents and disasters which were inevitable, because it was completely new.

When the first passenger railways began to expand in the 1820s and 1830s, many people were amazed by them. Journeys that once would have taken days by horse and carriage could now be done in only hours. But not everybody trusted the railways. Some people worried that travelling at such high speeds could damage the body or worse damage the mind. The noise, smoke, sparks, and violent shaking of the earlier carriages must have felt quite worrying to many of the first passengers.

These fears became far more real in 1830 during the opening celebrations of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. William Huskisson, a politician who was attending the event, stepped onto the tracks and was hit by George Stephenson’s locomotive Rocket. He became one of the world’s first widely reported railway fatalities. Victorians were horrified because it showed them how easily disasters could happen.

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Artist: A.B. Clayton

Date: 1830

Railway lines spread rapidly across Britain and tragically accidents became all the more frequent. In 1842, the Versailles rail disaster in France shocked people across Europe. A train derailed and caught fire, killing more than fifty people. Stories like this increased the fears people had in Britain as well. Then in 1861 the Clayton Tunnel disaster happened in Sussex. There were signalling errors which caused two trains to collide inside a dark tunnel. Twenty-three people were killed and around 176 were injured. Survivors of the disaster described all of the confusion, the screaming, the darkness, and the wrecked carriages that were piled together underground. It must have been absolutely terrifying for the passengers trapped inside.

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Benderloch railway station

Date: 1905

Another disaster that really affected Victorian Britain was the Staplehurst rail crash of 1865. Part of a bridge had been removed for repairs when a train carrying the writer Charles Dickens crossed it. Ten people were killed and around forty were injured. Dickens managed to survive and he later wrote about how shaken he was afterwards. His experience reflected the anxieties many Victorians felt whenever they travelled by rail.

Perhaps one of the most infamous tragedies was in 1879 with the collapse of the Tay Bridge in Scotland. During a violent storm, the bridge gave way under a passing train. Around seventy-five people were killed and there were no survivors. The disaster completely shocked the public because the bridge had been celebrated as a triumph of Victorian engineering. Many people started to question whether even the greatest structures could really be trusted. In spite of these tragedies, Victorians continued to travel because railways had transformed work, trade, and family life. Over time, safety systems started to improve but railway disasters still continued to concern the Victorians for many years.

Do you think that Victorians saw the railway as progress, or do you think that many secretly feared them?

Ravens, Magpies, and Black Cats In Tudor Superstitions

Ravens, Magpies, and Black Cats In Tudor Superstitions

Today I want to find out a little bit about the strange superstitions that were in Tudor England. During the era there was a great deal of importance placed on animals. To Tudor people, animals were not just pets or creatures that wandered through the towns or fields. Many believed that they could carry warnings, messages, or even signs from God or even the Devil. In a world that had disease, poor harvests, and sudden death, it is easy to see why so many people looked for meanings in the behaviour of animals.

At the beginning of the Tudor period in the late fifteenth century, most people were still living close to nature. Animals were part of their daily survival. Cats kept the rats away from homes and barns, horses were used for travel and to work fields, dogs were used to guard property, and ravens and crows were regular sights on battlefields, in churches, and at places of execution. Because people saw these animals all the time, stories and beliefs began to grow around them.

Ravens in particular became linked with death and bad fortune. Their black feathers and habit of feeding on carrion made many Tudor people very uneasy. Seeing ravens circling above you was often viewed as a warning of an illness, disaster or of death. At the Tower of London, there are still superstitions that should the ravens leave, the country will fall. Even today the ravens at the Tower have their wings clipped. Better safe than sorry! Although they are a little less restricted in recent years. As they have reduced the amount of clipping so the ravens could fly more naturally rather than only hop or glide.

Magpies also carried strong superstitions in Tudor England. Many people believed seeing a single magpie brought bad luck or sorrow, while larger groups could predict different fortunes. Their noisy behaviour, black and white colouring, and reputation for stealing shiny objects made them an easy target for superstition. Even today, some people still salute a lone magpie or say ‘good morning’ to it for luck.

Cats had a far more complicated reputation. Many households valued them because they controlled mice and rats that could ruin food supplies. But the poor black cat became associated with witchcraft and the supernatural. During the sixteenth century, fears of witchcraft were increasing across Europe, including in England. Some people believed witches could transform into animals or send spirits in animal form to carry out evil acts. Lonely older women who owned cats were sometimes targeted. Fear could easily turn one neighbour against another.

Other animals also carried meaning. Owls were often linked to death because of their eerie coos at night. Hares were another animal that sometimes got associated with witchcraft. Even ordinary farm animals were not safe, they could become part of a superstition if they happened to behave strangely during a storm, illness, or an eclipse. Without our modern scientific explanations, Tudors interpreted unusual animal behaviour as warnings from unseen forces.

Even if not everyone fully believed the stories they still created an atmosphere of fear and mystery. It may well have given comfort to some, by believing that there were signs they could prepare for the danger.

These beliefs seem to reveal the anxieties of Tudor life. Many people had to live with a constant anxiety, so maybe believing that animals actually carried signs made the world feel a little less unpredictable.

Do you think that these superstitions mainly came from fear? Or do you think that people just wanted reassurance?

The Forgotten “Canary Girls” Who Risked Their Lives On Britain’s Home Front

The Forgotten “Canary Girls” Who Risked Their Lives On Britain’s Home Front

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Munitions Production 

1914-1918

Artist: Horace Nicholls

Date: July 1917

I have recently been finding out a bit about what life was like on the home front. It would be wrong not to mention the incredible women who worked in the dangerous industries to help the war effort. One group that really stood out to me were the so called “Canary Girls” of the First and Second World Wars. It made me realise just how much ordinary women sacrificed behind the scenes. Their work placed them in constant danger and it permanently affected their health and their appearance.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Britain needed enormous amounts of shells, explosives, and ammunition. Millions of men had left civilian jobs to fight, so factories desperately needed workers. Women were encouraged to fill in these roles for the first time in huge numbers. Many came from working-class backgrounds and had worked as servants, cleaners, shop assistants, or textile workers. Some probably felt they needed to do their bit but for others they needed the wages to support their families. The wages in munitions factories were usually far better than the jobs they had previously been able to get, so women were drawn to the work.

One of the most dangerous jobs involved handling TNT, which was the chemical used in explosive shells. Women worked long hours filling the munitions by hand inside crowded factories that were often noisy, hot, and very poorly ventilated. Gradually the workers started to notice strange effects on their bodies. TNT exposure turned many women’s skin yellow and sometimes their hair took on a yellowish hue. Because of this, people began to call them the “Canary Girls.”

It is also believed that some Canary Girls may have even intentionally used chemicals from the factories to lighten or brighten their hair further, embracing the unusual “canary” appearance that came with the work.

The reality was frightening. TNT poisoning could cause headaches, dizziness, sickness, chest pains, liver damage, and severe fatigue. Some women became seriously unwell and others died from the exposure. Their yellow skin was a visible sign of the dangers that they faced. Some babies born to munitions workers were reportedly born with a slight yellow tint to their skin because of their mothers’ exposure to TNT during pregnancy. Although the discolouration usually faded over time, thankfully.

Explosives factories could also be catastrophic places. Accidents could sometimes cause devastating explosions and a large number of workers were killed. One of the worst disasters happened at the National Shell Filling Factory at Chilwell in 1918, where an explosion killed over a hundred workers.

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Salisbury Munitions Factory

Date: 1943

During the Second World War, women were once again asked to return to the munitions factories. Although the safety standards had improved somewhat, the risks were still really high. But in spite of the dangers, many women carried on because they believed that their work was important, and it was. Their work helped keep the military supplied and they contributed enormously to Britain’s ability to continue fighting.

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Munitions Production

Date: 1940

It is sad how easily these women have been forgotten compared to the soldiers at the front. The Canary Girls risked their lives daily in factories and many were permanently changed by it. I think they deserve to be remembered.

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Munitons factory in Scarborough

Date: 1943

Do you think the sacrifices made by women working on the home front receive enough recognition today?

The Victorian Servant Whose Diaries Revealed The Reality Of Domestic Service

The Victorian Servant Whose Diaries Revealed The Reality Of Domestic Service

I have recently  been writing about Nella Last and Mass Observation during World War Two. This made me want to find out about other diarists through history that give us a greater insight into everyday life. Today I want to talk about a woman whose story completely changed the way many historians understand domestic servants in Victorian Britain.

 Her name was Hannah Cullwick, and through her diaries and personal writings she gave us an unusually honest account of what servant life was like in the Victorian age. What really stuck out to me was how exhausting, lonely, and emotionally complicated it was, even though servants were everywhere in Victorian society.

Hannah Cullwick was born in 1833, into a working-class family. Like many girls from struggling families during the nineteenth century, she had very little choice in her future. Britain during the Victorian period was changing rapidly because of industrialisation, but for many poor women the safest way to earn regular wages was through domestic service. Hannah was only about eight years old when she began working as a servant.

Domestic servants were everywhere in Victorian Britain. Wealthier households relied on maids, cooks, nursemaids, laundry workers, and housekeepers to keep their homes running smoothly. But despite how essential they were, many servants often lived almost invisible lives. They often worked from before dawn until late in the night. They scrubbed floors, blackened stoves, carried heavy water buckets, washed clothes, lit fires, emptied chamber pots, and prepared food. Their work was physically exhausting and they had very little privacy or freedom. Hannah’s diaries show us just how tiring domestic life could be. She often described sore hands, aching bodies, dirt, sweat, and the constant work.

One thing I didn’t realise was how strongly Victorian society judged servants. Employers expected obedience, respectability, and silence. A servant’s behaviour reflected on the household, so many women lived under strict rules and constant supervision. Hannah seemed very aware of the class divide between servants and employers. She understood that many wealthy people viewed servants as socially inferior, even while relying completely on them.

In the 1850s Hannah met Arthur Munby, a wealthy barrister and writer who became fascinated by working-class women and female labourers. Their relationship was unusual and secretive. Munby admired Hannah’s strength and hard work. Hannah sometimes appeared proud of her servant life. But the relationship was unequal because of the enormous class difference between them. They secretly married in 1873, although the marriage was hidden from most people because Munby was worried there would be a  social scandal. Even after they got married, Hannah often continued to work as a servant.

What makes Hannah Cullwick’s story so important is that she left us her own words. So many Victorian servants were never able to record their feelings or experiences, but Hannah did. Through her diaries we can take a small glimpse into  the reality of domestic service. Many women took pride in the hard work, but they were also exhausted. They experienced humiliation, isolation, and frustration. Many servants spent their entire lives caring for other people’s homes but they had very little security or independence of their own.

When I read about Hannah, I cannot help but wonder how many other servants silently carried the same burdens without having their stories told.

 Do you think that Victorian society appreciated the people that kept their households functioning?