Galkoff Kosher Butcher • Museum of Liverpool

Galkoff’s was a kosher butcher shop in Liverpool’s Pembroke Place. The building itself was Georgian, built in 1820. In 1907 it was bought by Percy Galkoff, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, who turned it into his shop. In 1933 he added the beautiful green tiles. The business was run by the Galkoff family until 1979, when it was sold to Liverpool City Council.

The gorgeous shopfront was taken, tile by tile, from Pembroke Place to the Museum of Liverpool where it was put back together and put on exhibition in the museum’s People’s Republic gallery. The emerald green tiles were carefully conserved, or in some cases replaced where the damage, due to weather exposure, was too great. The result is an impressive life-size reconstruction of the iconic façade with the original gold Art Deco embellishments and Hebrew signage (the Hebrew words mean ‘kosher’).

The Museum of Liverpool has created various trails with topics linked to Liverpool’s Jewish heritage and community. A Liverpool Jewish Community Trail for the museum is available on the website and you can also pick up a paper version at the welcome desk. If you fancy a walk around town, you’ll find Galkoff’s tiles featured as part of the ‘On The Tiles‘ walking route and storymap which also takes you past some of the other Liverpool buildings adorned with tile decoration. There is also a dedicated Galkoff history page with more information about the family.

The listed buildings in Pembroke Place eventually became structurally unsound and have since been demolished. The photograph below shows the hoarding which surrounded the site and featured a mural designed in 2007 by local artist Donna Berry in collaboration with the pupils of King David school. The mural depicted the history of the Jewish community in Liverpool, and notable people (e.g. singer Frankie Vaughan, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, and Lord Mayor Louis Caplan) and places (Princes Road Synagogue, Harold House Community Centre).

Galkoff’s in 2018 © Rodhullandemu

We love this treasure for its lovely colours and the immediacy with which it transports viewers back to 1930s Liverpool and the vibrant Jewish community that flourished there.

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