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?