Meccano factory production line
Until the second half of the 20th century most factory work in Liverpool was based upon the import of raw materials - tobacco, sugar and grain. In the 19th century tobacco provided one of the few industries that offered women in Liverpool an alternative to domestic service.
By the late 19th century Jacob's Cream Crackers and Crawford's Biscuits were just two of the popular brands to grow out of industries based on the processing of imports.
One employee described the Crawford's factory in 1911:
"When I first walked into the machine room, I was terrified by all the noise and bustle. Great machines crashing away, driving belts screeching in protest, dough mixers grinding away the staff shouting and whistling to each other."
Jacob's Cream Crackers poster
The delight of children around the world, Meccano Toys were famous for much of the 20th century. It all began when Frank Hornby decided to make construction kits for his own children to encourage them to learn engineering.
In 1901 he established a factory, turning a family hobby into a major industry, and by the end of the 1930s the firm employed 1,200 workers (most of them women) and production had diversified into clockwork trains (Hornby 'O' gauge) and miniature cars (Dinky Toys).
Dinky toys, Hornby trains and Meccano toys are all on show in the gallery, along with photographs and personal testimonies of the people who worked there.
Over the years opportunities for work have changed in Liverpool - often causing unemployment. Derelict docks along the Mersey were just one sign of such change. Since 1949 successive governments have sought to ease unemployment by attracting new industries to the city.
In the 1960s three car manufacturing plants opened on Merseyside. The Ford factory at Halewood promised employment to as many as 15,000.
The very first Ford Anglia to be produced at the Halewood factory in 1963 was ceremoniously driven off the assembly line by the lord mayor. It is now in the museum's collections.
The decline of the port brought other problems for Liverpool people. Communities were uprooted and moved to the edges of the city where the new industries were being established.