DUNHILL PIPE TOBACCO: 1907 – 1990/fr: Difference between revisions

Created page with "Mais là encore, sans vouloir trop insister, lorsqu'Alfred Dunhill publia son premier catalogue en 1910, le succès l'avait déjà conduit à modifier son modèle de vente. U..."
(Created page with ""Quelques questions adroites de la part de Mr Dunhill lui ont vite permis d'assortir les tabacs pour le mélange que je [un client] désirais. Tout ceci en prenant une poigné...")
(Created page with "Mais là encore, sans vouloir trop insister, lorsqu'Alfred Dunhill publia son premier catalogue en 1910, le succès l'avait déjà conduit à modifier son modèle de vente. U...")
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Then again, not to make to fine a point of it, when Alfred Dunhill published his first catalog in 1910 success was already forcing alteration of this marketing model. A bespoke blending shop has its limits, one can not expect every wealthy English pipe smoker to visit a small shop on Duke Street for an interview. Far more can be expected to page through a catalog where ever they may be lighting up their pipe. And so even as Alfred mouthed the words, he did not hesitate in that first 1910 catalog to prominently present ten “My Mixture” blends for general customer consideration at “10/8 per lb post paid to any address in the United Kingdom”. (Although, according to Balfour, supra, if you actually visited the shop you could get #75, a mixture of all the blending ‘leavings’ at 4/ a pound.) And while the original customers for nine of those blends were noted by name, the tenth blend, “Alfred Dunhill’s Newest Mixture, a Perfect Blend” bore no such attribution.   The transition from ‘bespoke’ had begun.
Mais là encore, sans vouloir  trop insister, lorsqu'Alfred Dunhill publia son premier catalogue en 1910, le succès l'avait déjà conduit à modifier son modèle de vente. Une boutique de mélanges à la demande a ses limites, on ne peut pas attendre de chaque fumeur de pipe anglais aisé qu'il se rende dans une petite boutique de Duke Street pour un entretien. On peut s'attendre à ce qu'ils soient beaucoup plus nombreux à consulter un catalogue, quel que soit l'endroit où ils allument leur pipe. Aussi, alors même qu'Alfred prononçait ces mots, il n'hésitait pas dans son premier catalogue de 1910 à présenter  "à l'attention du client 10 mélanges "My Mixture" à 10/8 (10 shillings 8 pences)  la livre en port payé n'importe où au Royaume –Uni". Toutefois, d'après Balfour, ci-dessus, si vous vous rendiez effectivement au magasin, vous pouviez obtenir du numéro 75, un mélange de tous les "restes" à 4/ (4 shillings) la livre. Et alors que les clients d'origine de neuf de ces mélanges étaient désignés par leur nom, le dixième mélange "Alfred Dunhill’s Newest Mixture, a Perfect Blend” (le tout nouveau mélange d'Alfred Dunhill, un blend parfait) " n'était attribué à personne. La transition d'avec le "sur mesure" avait commencée.


Custom blending of the sort Alfred described in his catalog had another problem as well.  It does not necessarily produce the best possible blend.  Blending is more then just mixing together different leaf in proportion.  There are blending techniques, e.g., stoving, toasting, pressing, that take time and experimentation and can hardly be done at the store’s  blending counter.  Then too, once a blend is mixed it needs time to ‘marry’ both in bulk and in the tin.  Above all else Alfred strove for the best, thus it was only natural that a few years later, in 1912, bespoke blending took a back seat again as Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged ‘name’ blends: “Royal Yacht”, “Cuba” and “Durbar”.  And priced not at the “My Mixture” 10/8 but at the very considerable premium of 16/- per lb for “Durbar” and 21/- per lb for “Royal Yacht” and “Cuba”.
Custom blending of the sort Alfred described in his catalog had another problem as well.  It does not necessarily produce the best possible blend.  Blending is more then just mixing together different leaf in proportion.  There are blending techniques, e.g., stoving, toasting, pressing, that take time and experimentation and can hardly be done at the store’s  blending counter.  Then too, once a blend is mixed it needs time to ‘marry’ both in bulk and in the tin.  Above all else Alfred strove for the best, thus it was only natural that a few years later, in 1912, bespoke blending took a back seat again as Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged ‘name’ blends: “Royal Yacht”, “Cuba” and “Durbar”.  And priced not at the “My Mixture” 10/8 but at the very considerable premium of 16/- per lb for “Durbar” and 21/- per lb for “Royal Yacht” and “Cuba”.