Long before "artisan" confectionery was a marketing term, British sweet shops were built around jars and tubs of penny sweets — cheap, individually weighed-out sweets that cost next to nothing and defined a generation's idea of a treat. A lot of that range has survived more or less unchanged. Here's a look at some of the true classics, what's actually in them, and where to find them. For more on where the name itself comes from, see our dedicated history of the penny counter.
Parma Violets
Parma Violets are the small, powdery, purple pressed sweets flavoured and scented with violet rather than fruit — which is exactly why people tend to either love them or find them a bit like eating perfume. They were created in 1946 by Swizzels, the Derbyshire confectioner still making them today, and were originally sold in pubs and marketed as a breath freshener rather than a sweet in their own right. Violet-flavoured confectionery itself goes back much further — "violet tables," a sugar lozenge flavoured with violet, were being made before 1620 — but the Parma Violet as we know it is a Swizzels invention.
We stock the Swizzels Giant Parma Violets 40g, an oversized roll format sold as a case of 24, and Swizzels Original Parma Violets 3kg, the classic individually wrapped size in a 3kg bulk bag for anyone provisioning a pick 'n' mix counter or a party bowl properly. Neither contains gelatine, so both are suitable for vegans.
Dolly Mixture
Dolly Mixture is the multicoloured jumble of small fondant shapes and sugar-coated jellies that's been a fixture of the pick 'n' mix counter since the post-war years. Children were reportedly using the phrase in playground slang from the 1920s, though "dolly mixture" doesn't turn up in print until around 1957, produced under the Barratt name that's still associated with it today. Nobody is entirely sure where the name comes from — the leading theory is simply that "dolly" meant doll-sized, and a bag of tiny mixed shapes was a mixture fit for a doll's tea party.
We stock Bonds Dolly Mixture Bags 120g and Barratt Dolly Mixture 3kg — the original Barratt-branded version, in bulk.
Pear Drops (and Pear Drop Pips)
The pear drop is one of the oldest sweets still on general sale — accounts trace it to the early 19th century, generally credited to the York confectioner Edward Sharp, made from little more than boiled sugar and pear flavouring. It's since become one of the defining shapes of the traditional sweet jar.
We stock the Kingsway Large Pear Drops 3kg and the Dobsons Pear Drops Jar 2.72kg, plus Dobsons Pear Drop Pips Jar 2.72kg — the same flavour in a smaller, pip-sized format for anyone who wants more pieces per handful. If you've searched for "pips sweets" generally, this is specifically what we mean by it; we can't vouch for any other sweet sold under that name elsewhere.
Flying Saucers
Flying Saucers are the small wafer-paper capsules filled with sherbet that seem to turn up at every children's party. The story behind them is genuinely unusual: they were invented in the early 1950s by a Belgian producer of communion wafers, after a change in church rules meant wafers had to be made on consecrated ground and killed off part of their original business. Rather than scrap the wafer-making equipment, they filled the same capsules with sherbet instead — and the timing, landing right in the middle of the 1960s–70s space race, is almost certainly why they ended up shaped and named the way they are. For a closer look at what's actually in the shell and filling, see our dedicated Flying Saucers deep dive.
We stock the Frisia Flying Saucers Drum, supplied loose for repacking into your own bags or containers, and the Kingsway Flying Saucers Box 3.75kg for buying at real scale.
Cola Bottles
The cola bottle — that dark, bottle-shaped jelly sweet — is a pick 'n' mix constant, and we stock it in two genuinely different forms. Kingsway Cola Bottles 3kg is the plain version: no sour coating, just the deep cola flavour, made with beef gelatine so it isn't suitable for vegetarians or vegans. Kingsway Vegan Fizzy Cola Bottles 3kg flips both of those — a sour sugar coating over the same cola flavour, and a gelatine-free recipe that makes it one of the few genuinely vegan versions of this sweet on the market. Both come as 3kg bulk bags. For the full story of how the cola bottle got its shape and colour, see our short history of the cola bottle.
Strawberry Millions
Millions — the tiny, densely chewy sweets that punch well above their size — were launched in 1990 by Golden Casket, a family confectioner in Greenock, Scotland, as the brainchild of Douglas Rae. Strawberry was the flavour that started it all, before the range expanded into sour, fizzy and bubblegum variants. The brand is now made by Tangerine Confectionery, which also produces Barratt sweets.
We stock the Millions Strawberry Flavour Jar 2.27kg, a 2.27kg weigh-out jar with no gelatine in the recipe, so it's suitable for vegans and vegetarians. If you want to see the wider range of Millions flavours, it's worth a look at the Millions collection. For more on what actually gives Millions their distinctive chew, see our piece on why Millions took over the tuck shop.
Barratt Hard Liquorice Sticks
Worth a quick clarification here, because the name is easy to misread: if you came looking for "Barratt candy sticks" expecting the striped, seaside-rock style stick sweet, that isn't this. What we stock under the Barratt name is Barratt Hard Liquorice Sticks — traditional black hard liquorice, formerly sold as Bassetti Sticks, in a box of 75. It's a proper old-school liquorice sweet rather than a coloured candy stick, and worth knowing that distinction before you buy.
Where to find the rest
Everything above, plus a much wider range of tuck-shop and pick 'n' mix staples, sits in our Retro Sweets collection — the natural home for anyone after 1p-sweet-era classics rather than modern confectionery.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly are penny sweets?
Penny sweets are the small, individually priced sweets traditionally sold loose from jars or tubs, so called because they once cost a single old penny each. The name has stuck even though sweets like Parma Violets, pear drops and cola bottles now sell by weight.
What flavour are Parma Violets?
Violet — flavoured and scented rather than fruit-flavoured, using a flavouring and the colour anthocyanin. It reads as more of a scent than a taste, which is why opinion on them tends to be so divided.
Are Kingsway Cola Bottles vegan?
The plain version isn't — it contains beef gelatine. Kingsway's Vegan Fizzy Cola Bottles use a gelatine-free recipe with a sour coating, and are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
What's the difference between pear drops and pear drop pips?
Both are hard-boiled pear-flavoured sweets from Dobsons. Pear drops are the full-size classic; pear drop pips are the same flavour in a smaller, pip-sized format.