Mint chocolate chip, butter pecan, or rocky road? Cake cone, sugar cone, or waffle cone? Ice cream cones can make for a cool, portable snack. However, single-serve ice cream wasn't always quite so…inviting. How did some people enjoy ice cream before the cone came to be? Here's the scoop.
Ice cream first became popular in England in the mid-1800s. According to sources, people sold ice cream on the streets. These sellers were known as Jacks. They served tiny scoops of ice cream in a glass container. The cup was called a penny lick. As its name suggests, the penny lick held just a "lick's worth" of ice cream. The small vessel was made of thick glass. No spoons were needed. Customers would lick the glass clean. Then they'd give it back to the Jack, who would reuse it. But this churned up a problem.
Sweet-toothed customers got more than a lick of ice cream for their penny. They also got a lick at catching a disease. How so? Penny licks "were rarely wiped, let alone washed, between customers," says The Guardian. Plus, the penny lick's shape made it hard to clean. Germs were easily passed from one customer to the next.
Today, penny licks might send people screaming away from ice cream. But at the time, people in England knew little about germs. However, word later spread about the contagious nature of tuberculosis and other diseases. And penny licks began to fall out of favor.
In 1879, experts blamed the spread of a disease called cholera on penny licks. A law was passed in 1899. It banned the use of the dirty dishes in London. Penny licks were fully outlawed in England in 1926.
The penny lick is long gone. But its story does have a sweet ending. The penny lick's downfall helped bring about the ice cream cone. Now, crunchy cones come in different shapes, sizes, and flavors. They remain crowd-pleasing containers for a scoop or two on the go. Cones even help prevent the spread of germs. Just remember to keep your licks to yourself.
TO-DO
NOTES
VOCABULARY
QUESTION 2
QUESTION 2 OF 4
2 / 4
Which sentence from the article best supports the idea that penny licks were to blame for making people sick?
A.Germs were easily passed from one customer to the next.
B.[Cones] remain crowd-pleasing containers for a scoop or two on the go.
C.The penny lick's downfall helped bring about the ice cream cone.
D.[People] served tiny scoops of ice cream in a glass container.