Take a look at some of the unique items collected by Museum of Liverpool in 2025

A sign advertising treatment for venereal disease and a beer mat from Liverpool’s International Garden Festival, are just some of the items acquired by Museum of Liverpool curators in 2025.

Throughout the year, museum curators identify and acquire items relating to Liverpool’s rich cultural heritage. All unique and representative of stories from the city, the items range from the expected, to the more unusual.

The Museum of Liverpool celebrates and showcases Liverpool’s culture, character and heritage. Where some objects, thought of as more traditional museum items, may not be chosen, other more obscure, even unassuming items will take up a permanent place in the collections. 

Items can be identified by the museum curators or are kindly offered to the museum by societies, organisations and members of the public. While not every item is accepted, curators carefully consider all items and decide which items would benefit the museum’s collection to represent the multitude of stories throughout the city’s long history.

Liz Stewart, head of Museum of Liverpool, said: “Each year our curatorial team surprise me with the range of objects we acquire for our collections.

“This year is no different. We have acquired items celebrating Liverpool’s diverse communities, recognised momentous occasions from 2025 that have taken place in the city, and brought to light centuries-old artefacts, including one hidden metres away from our Museum, that provide insight into our city’s rich history.

“Every item in our collection has a purpose, tells a story about our city and champions the stories we sometimes may not hear enough about in Liverpool. The stories of everyday people can offer some of the most important insights into the culture, character and history of the city, and our collection’s purpose is to represent the people of Liverpool – from centuries ago, up to the present day.”

Here are some of the items acquired by the Museum of Liverpool in 2025:

A sexual health sign

The museum acquired a sign highlighting where people could receive treatment for venereal disease across the city in 1974. The object was acquired by Brian Plumb – a trained nurse who worked at Liverpool Seaman’s Dispensary. The Museum added the sign to its collection, to highlight the history of sexual health in Liverpool, particularly as a port city, and the legacies of the Contagious Diseases Act.

A beer mat

This beer mat from Liverpool’s International Festival Garden was acquired by the museum from Terry Reed in 1984. She visited the festival that year from her home in Southampton and kept a beermat from the nearby Britannia Inn, as a souvenir. The museum has a range of items from the Garden Festival, but the pub holds strong memories of people’s visits to the site.

A gold posy ring

Acquired by the museum’s Archaeology team, this ornate and detailed gold posy ring would have been exchanged as a token of love. The ring was unearthed by a metal detectorist and donated to the Museum’s regional archaeology collection through the UK’s Portable Antiquities Scheme. It is currently on display the museum’s exhibition Treasure: History Unearthed, which runs until March 2026.

The Museum of Liverpool has hosted a Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities scheme for nearly 30 years. This year the scheme has recorded over 1800 archaeological objects found by the public across Merseyside, Manchester and Cheshire.

A record

Recorded during the Second World War, this voice recording was sent from the front line, to loved ones at home. This is believed to have been sent by a soldier named Harry Haft, to his fiancée Eileen Murphy. The record has been digitised and is a touching Christmas message – describing the contrast between the festive season at home and on the front line. It was recorded during the Second World War on 21 December, but there is no indication of the year it was created. What is unusual about the record is the postmark date, 1946: two years after the war ended.

Harry Haft died on 21 December 1943 in Northern Italy.

A sweet mould

Acquired from Liverpool’s former sweet shop, the museum now holds in its collection a frame mould for the famous Foam Shrimp sweet, originally created by Tavener’s – the Liverpool confectionary maker. The museum featured a display this year looking at the life of the factory and its workers called Sweet: The Taveners Story. The mould is currently on loan and on display at The Atkinson in Southport.

A spearhead

Another object acquired by the Museum of Liverpool’s Archaeology team, this spearhead was found during building excavations on the site of Liverpool Castle – a medieval castle located in the Liverpool Courts area of the city centre. Not much is known about the spearhead currently, so the museum team will now work on gaining more information on the object, through x-rays and other techniques to work out just how old the spearhead is.

The Museum of Liverpool cares for over 100,000 archaeological objects discovered in the region. These items help us to discover more about the lives of people living in Merseyside in the past. 

An invitation

Liverpool’s Bengali community has celebrated the Hindu festival of Durga Puja in Liverpool since 1977 – the oldest Durga Puja outside of London. An invitation from 2015, sent to members of the Bengali Association of Merseyside and North of England (BAMNE) in Liverpool, was acquired by the museum, highlighting the diverse range of communities in the city.

A major Hindu festival, Durga Puja honours the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. Previously in 2009, BAMNE donated statues of Hindu deities – Ganesha, Lakshmi, Goddess Durga, Saraswati, and Kartikeya – crafted in Kolkata from clay taken from the River Ganges. The statues feature in the Our City, Our Stories display in museum’s The People’s Republic gallery.

A scarf

To mark Everton Football Club’s final men’s game at Goodison Park, the club created a scarf to be placed on the seat of every home fan attending the landmark day. Other items acquired around the move from Everton’s spiritual home included another special scarf created by Everton Heritage Society and a commemorative season ticket display box.

For visitors planning to visit over the festive period, the Museum of Liverpool and other National Museums Liverpool venues have differing opening hours:

20 – 23 December: 10am – 5pm  

24 – 26 December: Closed 

27 – 30 December: 10am – 5pm 

31 December – 1 January: 11am – 4pm 

2 – 4 January: 10am – 5pm  

The museum returns to its regular opening hours of 10am-4pm Tuesday to Sunday from 6 January 2026.

You can explore highlights of their vast collections online here.

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