Sweet journeys through time: Abbey House Museum's exhibit showcases vintage Yorkshire confectionary

The exhibition The Power of Persuasion at Abbey House Museum in Leeds features a display of vintage Yorkshire sweet jars, chocolates, and toffee tins.

The exhibit delves into the narratives and tactics behind some of history's most iconic brands including tins of traditional Pontefract liquorice, made by Hillaby’s in the 1930s.

Also on display is a series of toffee tins from Henry Thorne & Co. Ltd of Leeds. With a large factory on Edward Street, near the old West Yorkshire bus station, the company was a leading name in confectionery production, reputedly making more than two million pieces a day by the 1960s.

Other objects which make up the display include historic packaging and advertising for Cadbury’s Ltd, a tin of Fox’s Glacier Mints from 1950 and a set of shop scales, once used to measure out different varieties of sweets at Dawes and Sons on Hunslet Road, Leeds in around 1900.

Kitty Ross, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of social history, said: “Sweets and confectionery are among the most enduring and recognisable brands in the world, tapping into a unique sense of nostalgia and the happy memories we have of them as children.

“Most people can fondly recall their favourite childhood sweet or treat as well as the places and people they associate with them, and that’s always been a key part of the products which have stood the test of time.

“In many ways, those brands encapsulate the power of advertising and we can see in them examples of the ingenious tactics different companies have used to appeal to their customers over the decades.”