Victorian sweets

Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, and a surprising number of the sweets on sale today were born in those years. Here they are in order, with links to their full stories. For the words Victorians used for sweets, see what were sweets called in Victorian times?

Already old when Victoria came to the throne

Some sweets were already well established. Humbugs are recorded from as early as the 1820s, and barley sugar and acid drops were, a Victorian sweet maker remembered, among the only boiled sweets the old London sweet houses once made: see humbugs and barley sugar

New sweets of the reign

• 1840, Harrogate toffee. Created in the Yorkshire spa town to take away the taste of the spa water, and still made by Farrah's of Harrogate: see Harrogate toffee
• 1851, royal butterscotch. Doncaster butterscotch became famous after Queen Victoria was presented with a tin on a visit to the town: see butterscotch
• 1864, Victory V. First made in Lancashire as a lozenge containing ether, liquorice and chlorodyne: see Victory V lozenges
• 1864, Unclaimed Babies. A Lancashire confectioner made the sweets that became Jelly Babies: see what were Jelly Babies originally called?
• 1865, Fisherman's Friend. Created in Fleetwood by a pharmacist for deep sea fishermen: see Fisherman's Friend
• 1866, Fry's Chocolate Cream. A fondant centre covered in plain chocolate, made by Fry's of Bristol: see Fry's Chocolate Cream
• 1869, Kendal Mint Cake. Said to have been born from a batch of glacier mints that went wrong: see Kendal Mint Cake
• 1887, lettered rock. Ben Bullock is usually credited with making lettered rock, sending a batch to Blackpool: see Blackpool rock
• 1899, Liquorice Allsorts. Bassett's of Sheffield began selling the mix after, the story goes, a salesman dropped his tray of samples: see Liquorice Allsorts

Sweets on the street

Sweets were sold on the street as well as in shops. In 1851 Henry Mayhew counted about 200 street sellers of sweet stuff in London, selling rock, candies and hardbake by the halfpenny worth: see the history of the sweet shop

The dark side

Victorian sweets were not always safe. Food was often adulterated with cheap fillers, and some colours were made from dangerous minerals. In 1858, peppermint lozenges made with arsenic by mistake killed around 20 people in Bradford: see the Bradford sweets poisoning of 1858

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