New display at the Museum of Liverpool takes a look at life in Taveners sweet factory

Museum of Liverpool will take a trip back to a sweeter time this November, as a new display of photographs looks at the history of Taveners – from its early beginnings to its years as one of the UK’s most successful confectionery makers.

Through photographs of factory life, Sweet: The Taveners Story at the Museum of Liverpool looks at the workers behind some of the company’s famous creations, including lollipops, caramels and fruit drops. 

Originally opened in 1885, Taveners began life making sauces and pickles, before moving into the world of sweet treats, where the company’s legacy is built from. Boiled sweets in glass jars were sold across the country with the Taveners name and made the Liverpool company famous.

The display highlights photos that capture the day-to-day running of the factory, as well as the not-so normal days. Occasions when players from Liverpool Football Club visited, a Candy Queen beauty contest took place… and even the visit of an oversized mouse to the factory by the name of Mickey. 

Taveners has had a presence in Liverpool, however in 2024, its parent company Valeo Foods announced it would be closing the factory doors for good in February 2025. This display aims to evoke childhood memories of favourite childhood sweets and to shed light on the much-loved factory behind them.

Sharon Brown, curator at Museum of Liverpool, said:

“It’s great to be able to share these images of life at the Taveners factory for the first time. The factory and its staff produced some of the most iconic sweets of the 1970s and 1980s, including Mojos and Traffic Light lollipops, that many of our visitors will have very fond memories of.”

Sweet: The Taveners Story runs from 16 November 2024 to 23 March 2025 and is a display of 14 photographs in Museum of Liverpool’s Skylight Gallery, taken from National Museum Liverpool’s collection. The collection contains around 250 photographs of Taveners and their workforce, with more images available to view in a special online gallery on the National Museums Liverpool website.

Museum of Liverpool is also looking to hear the memories of former employees who worked at Taveners, and to help identify their colleagues in the photographs.

For more information visit the Museum of Liverpool website.

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