In the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, ice cream street vendors would sell ice cream in glass containers called a “penny lick.” As the name implies, the sweet treat would cost just a penny.
The penny licks were made with a thick glass bottom with a depression at the top where the ice cream was served. Through the magic of the light and reflections, the glass would actually appear to be full of ice cream until hungry buyers discovered that it was only just a lick. But, for just a penny, they probably weren’t too upset.
With all those people using the same licks and often not a lot of time to give them a proper cleansing in between uses, it wasn’t long before questions about hygiene were raised. The solution was to serve ice cream in a pastry cup, which paved the way for the invention of the waffle cone!
Tags: history, ice cream, penny lick
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I’d rather have a LARGE helping of something like cherry/fudge!
Very interesting! I love odd bits of history! My mother is 92 I wonder if she remembers the penny lick! Glad cones were invented, although I prefer the cake cone!!
This story evokes many “good” ice cream memories. In our small town, years ago when I was a child, the pharmacy had an ice cream counter where you could get the best phosphates, sundaes and those luscious ice cream cones.
what a goldmine. I wonder how many licks in a pint?
The penny lick was loaded with germs by the end of the day. I wonder if they washed them at night? At least they were gluten free!
Penny Lick what a concept! Today it’s more like a buck fifty lick! But as long as it’s chocolate it’s fine. I had plenty licks over the July 4th weekend!
Never heard of penny licks before. Thanks.
My son-in-law loves to play trivia games–I can’t wait to use this information to try and stump him!!!!
Ice cream shots–a novel idea! I’ll take Kaluha and coffee ice cream please.
Very cool…did not know that!! I don’t think it would have filled me up!!
It is nice to hear the history of how things came about ,it is fun;;;
Totally unfamiliar with “penny Licks”.
I love to learn new things.
Those are neat but I think I would have had to spend a LOT of pennies to get the ice cream that I would want.
So since it was a national holiday, my parents always reserve the day entirely and strictly for “family.” We are instructed to turn off our cell-phones, unplug our computer and remain “gadget-free” for the entire holiday. That way we are able to appreciate the reason for the holiday, celebrate our nation’s historical figures that made the day possible, and give thanks with our family. That is all well and good, but the embargo on internet lasted 2 days and I missed reading this blog
that was truely tragic and I was so tempted to sneak on and see what the topic of discussion was, read some funny posts, and see if there were any additional prizes. But I kept my promise and suffered through with no turkey hill blog…but im back!
In that case…order me 1000 of those because that’s how much money I currently have on me, and I cannot think of a better reason to spend money than on ice cream. I mean really, can anything else make your smile bigger than ice cream for a penny?
Interesting. It’s nice to think back to a time when things fun AND cheap.
Interesting. It’s nice to think back to a time when things were fun AND cheap.
Wow that is the first time I have heard about that. Very interesting history lesson. Something to tell the grand kids about.
All of this talk about ice cream is making me hungry.
An interesting piece of trivia!
Thanks for that bit of history! Interesting stuff.
I love these – too bad they’re not still around.
I DONT LIKE THE IDEA OF THE PENNY LICK. IT SEEMS LIKE A MEAN TRICK TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE MORE. WHY DIDNT THEY JUST SELL A SPOONFUL.
that’d be a great trick to play on the kids.
I wonder if any of the glasses are still around.
What a rip off That’s worse than having no ice cream at all.
Very interesting bit of ice cream trivia and something I had never heard of before. I’ll bet I could get a lick for every penny I spend on a carton of Turkey Hill – that is if I could keep myself from biting into the deliciousness and polishing it off in a hurry.
waffle cones are a good thing!
I can remember getting a small portion in one of those little dixie cups at the candy store.
TEASE!
portion control smortion control. give me a cone I’ll eat it all, give me a bowl of TH I’ll eat all that, give me a container of TH, and believe me, I’ll eat all of it too.
Hi turkey HIll fan, my computer is not working at this time, so I have to go to the library to say hit to everyone. I miss everyone here, When I can’t talked to you. This blod is like a large family,…getting back to the those two ice cream glass cone…I love them. It would be nice to win them, if turkey hill, gave them away as prize give away.
They are so cute. Can you see yourself eating ice cream out of them…I can. I love Turkey Hill vanilla and strawberry ice cream.
100 licks for a dollar. Hummmm.
Ice cream makes everything better!!!
They look like something you would see on “The Antique Road Show.” Good way to try a flavor to see if you like it.
Am glad they no longer sell icecream like that. Very unsanitary.
Glad we can get more than a “lick” now! Especially of the Chocolate Cherry Cordial that I love!!!
Don’t we all wish it could’ve stayed that way! I would drown myself in Turkey Hill Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream of course for only a single dollar!
So where are the prizes?
I wonder what the breakage rate of the penny lick containers was.
go turkey hill!
Not even 9 am and grandkids are screamin for ice-cream!
Wow, I’ve heard of the “penny lick” but never knew where it came from!
What a tid-bit!!!
Thank goodness for the ice cream cone!