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Everton Mints
Black and white stripes, a mint flavour and a football tradition. Everton Mints are thrown to the crowd before Everton games, and their story starts in a village sweet shop.
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Everton Mints are black and white striped mint sweets from Liverpool, and they have been tied up with football for well over a century.
What they are
An Everton Mint is a type of humbug: a mint flavoured sweet with black and white stripes. Humbugs have been part of British sweet shops for a very long time, and the Everton Mint is Liverpool's own version: see humbugs.
Mother Noblett's shop
The story of Everton Mints is bound up with the story of Everton Football Club's nickname, the Toffees. The best known explanation for the nickname is a shop in Everton village called Mother Noblett's, which sold sweets including Everton Mints. It stood opposite the old lock up which now appears on the Everton crest.
Common Ground's England in Particular, a guide to local distinctiveness, tells the story this way: when Everton moved to Goodison Park in 1892, Mother Noblett's shop was nearby, and rather than copy Everton toffee, the shop created a new sweet in the colours of an early Everton team strip. It dates the sale of the recipe to the Noblett's company to 1894.
The Toffee Lady
The link between sweets and football survives in one of the game's odder traditions. Before an Everton match, the Toffee Lady, a girl, walks around the edge of the pitch throwing free Everton Mints into the crowd. The tradition symbolises the club's link with the toffee shops of the old village. See Everton toffee.
Who makes them
According to England in Particular, Everton Mints and Everton toffee were later sold to the Liverpool sweet makers Barker and Dobson, and the brand came to be owned by Cadbury Trebor Bassett. Everton Mints are still sold today under the Bassett's name, which is now owned by Mondelez International: see George Bassett, the liquorice allsorts man.
Stripes and mints
Striped mint sweets like these, with their contrasting dark and light stripes, are a familiar sight in British sweet shops. For other traditional mints, see mint imperials and the story of Everton toffee.
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
What are Everton Mints?
Black and white striped mint humbugs. They are named after Everton, the district of Liverpool, and are linked with Everton Football Club, whose nickname is the Toffees.
Why does the Toffee Lady throw sweets at Everton?
It is a tradition that marks the club's link with the toffee shops of Everton village. Before a game a girl walks around the edge of the pitch, throwing free Everton Mints into the crowd.
Who makes Everton Mints?
They were long made by the Liverpool sweet firm Barker and Dobson, and today they are sold under the Bassett's name, now part of Mondelez International.
Sources
- Everton F.C., Wikipedia
- Everton Mints, England in Particular
- Bassett's, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- British heritage sweetsEverton toffeeEverton toffee was made in Everton village, now part of Liverpool, from the 18th century by Molly Bushell. It is why Everton FC are called the Toffees.
- British heritage sweetsHumbugsHumbugs are striped boiled sweets, usually peppermint, made in Britain since at least the 1820s. Here is what they are and how they are made.
- British heritage sweetsMint imperialsMint imperials are round white mints with a hard sugar shell and a softer middle. In Scotland they are pan drops or granny sookers.
- British heritage sweetsOld fashioned toffeeA guide to Britain's old fashioned toffees, from slab toffee broken with a hammer to Everton, Harrogate, Walker's Nonsuch, Riley's, Sharps and Mackintosh's.
- The people behind the sweetsGeorge Bassett, the liquorice allsorts manGeorge Bassett began making sweets in Sheffield in 1842 and became mayor. After his death, a salesman's dropped tray is said to have created Liquorice Allsorts.
- British heritage sweetsOld fashioned sweets: the A to ZAn A to Z of old fashioned British sweets, from acid drops and aniseed balls to Wham bars and yellowman, with a line on each and a link to its full story.