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I might be wrong, but this looks very much like penny lick ice cream glasses: https://i2.wp.com/www.oldlondon.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/thompson_london_13.

I might be wrong, but this looks very much like penny lick ice cream glasses: https://i2.wp.com/www.oldlondon.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/thompson_london_13.jpg https://i2.wp.com/www.oldlondon.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/... (If you haven't heard of them: in the 1800s London, one happy customer would get their ice cream, lick the glass clean and return it to the vendor, who would refill it and give it to the next customer. Perhaps the best way to spread tuberculosis, which the Penny lick did very well on until it was banned in 1899.)

nonbel 9y ago
They appeared to be quite aware and concerned about contagion though: http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/thomson-6.htm http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/thomson-6.htm
Stratoscope 9y ago
When I was a kid growing up in the late '50s, the restaurants had a jar of mustard and a jar of mayonnaise at the table, and you used your table knife to spread whichever you wanted on your sandwich, just like you would at home. This was a problem if you wanted both mayonnaise and mustard. It wouldn't be polite to contaminate one with the other, plus you might get bits of lettuce and bread in the jar. So we were taught that after putting the mustard on the sandwich, rather than dip the dirty knife in the mayonnaise jar, we should first lick it clean.
gambiting 9y ago
In communist Poland, street vendors frequently offered carbonated water as a refreshing drink in the summer - but they only had a glass or two, so you would buy a glass of water, drink it, and return the glass for the next customer to use - in the best case, it was quickly rinsed before re-use. The last one was in use until 1995. Sadly wiki only has an article on this in Polish, but google translate does a decent job: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturator https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturator

nonbel 9y ago

They appeared to be quite aware and concerned about contagion though: http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/thomson-6.htm http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/thomson-6.htm

Stratoscope 9y ago

When I was a kid growing up in the late '50s, the restaurants had a jar of mustard and a jar of mayonnaise at the table, and you used your table knife to spread whichever you wanted on your sandwich, just like you would at home. This was a problem if you wanted both mayonnaise and mustard. It wouldn't be polite to contaminate one with the other, plus you might get bits of lettuce and bread in the jar. So we were taught that after putting the mustard on the sandwich, rather than dip the dirty knife in the mayonnaise jar, we should first lick it clean.

gambiting 9y ago

In communist Poland, street vendors frequently offered carbonated water as a refreshing drink in the summer - but they only had a glass or two, so you would buy a glass of water, drink it, and return the glass for the next customer to use - in the best case, it was quickly rinsed before re-use. The last one was in use until 1995. Sadly wiki only has an article on this in Polish, but google translate does a decent job: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturator https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturator