Description:This postcard image is probably a church related event which took place in Hednesford.
The postcard was sent to Miss Jessie Wallbank at 115, King Richards Road, Leicester and was written on 28 July 1913. Jessie was Hednesford born and in 1911 was a nurse in a mental asylum in Kingswinford. The Leicester address has been identified as a 'home for feeble-minded girls' and it is presumed Jessie was employed there. Jessie married Cecil Gardener at St. Peter's Church, Hednesford in 1915.
The unnamed writer, possibly a house servant, says that the photograph was taken at the "treat in the field" by Elsie Goscomb, who ran a photography business from her father's boot-making business at 61 Market Street, Hednesford. She then states "I expect you will recognise who I am talking to...the Gov. has gone to Rawnsley Flower Show today and Mrs Q. has returned with her Mum to Lichfield for the holidays".
Mrs Q. could be the wife of Hednesford's vicar, William Quibell (the Gov.?) and the man being spoken to their son, Arthur.
The children are holding 'Penny Lick' ice-creams. Ice-cream was placed in a reuseable, thick, glass receptacle formed with shallow depression in the top and a handle. This magnified the ice cream to give the illusion that the portion was greater than it actual was. The seller may have swilled the returned glass in a container of water before reusing them for the next customers. If the water was not changed frequently there was a significant risk of spreading disease. They were banned in London in about 1898 but were used elsewhere much later. They fell from favour when waffle biscuit cones were introduced to hold the ice cream .