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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
→New Phase - Duke Street Era
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What Father didn’t reckon with was the long-term credit most of his well-to-do customers took for granted. For if, as Bill Carter explained, every item of merchandise in the shop had to carry a tag to save customers the embarrassment of having to ask the price, what would have been their reaction if confronted with an account simply because it had been unpaid for several months? Father knew only too well. If tailors and other West End merchants could somehow arrange their business so that impertinent requests of this sort didn’t have to be made, why not a struggling tobacconist? Of this situation, all too many customers took advantage with the result that Father extended their credit far beyond the limits of his own. | What Father didn’t reckon with was the long-term credit most of his well-to-do customers took for granted. For if, as Bill Carter explained, every item of merchandise in the shop had to carry a tag to save customers the embarrassment of having to ask the price, what would have been their reaction if confronted with an account simply because it had been unpaid for several months? Father knew only too well. If tailors and other West End merchants could somehow arrange their business so that impertinent requests of this sort didn’t have to be made, why not a struggling tobacconist? Of this situation, all too many customers took advantage with the result that Father extended their credit far beyond the limits of his own. | ||
His creditors quickly realised what was happening. It was not a situation they were likely to tolerate for long. Within the first two years of trading, they called a meeting after meeting until Bill Carter was the only assistant Father could afford to keep on. On one occasion, when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, one friendly cigar importer saved the day for him by praising Father’s enterprise and originality, urging his fellow creditors to give the business the benefit of a few more weeks." Mary Dunhill.<ref name= | His creditors quickly realised what was happening. It was not a situation they were likely to tolerate for long. Within the first two years of trading, they called a meeting after meeting until Bill Carter was the only assistant Father could afford to keep on. On one occasion, when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, one friendly cigar importer saved the day for him by praising Father’s enterprise and originality, urging his fellow creditors to give the business the benefit of a few more weeks." Mary Dunhill.<ref name=mary11>Dunhill, Mary (1979). Our Family Business (pp. 24-25). Great Britain, The Bodley Head.</ref></blockquote> | ||
With the advent of the First Great War in July 1914, many of its customers ended up in the trenches of northern France, where Dunhill sent boxes of tobacco, pipes and hygiene items. Alfred sent the sealed boxes, declared and labelled "castor oil", which smelled strong and penetrating, to avoid miscarriage and ensure that it reached the front. Inside the box, in addition to the courtesies, Alfred suggested in a letter that some items would be shared with other officers. Invariably, these items were part of the parallel trade that existed in the theatre of war. In addition to French – obviously, there were Americans, Canadians, and Belgians (among others) in the region. The confluence of these factors favoured the diffusion of the brand around the globe. | With the advent of the First Great War in July 1914, many of its customers ended up in the trenches of northern France, where Dunhill sent boxes of tobacco, pipes and hygiene items. Alfred sent the sealed boxes, declared and labelled "castor oil", which smelled strong and penetrating, to avoid miscarriage and ensure that it reached the front. Inside the box, in addition to the courtesies, Alfred suggested in a letter that some items would be shared with other officers. Invariably, these items were part of the parallel trade that existed in the theatre of war. In addition to French – obviously, there were Americans, Canadians, and Belgians (among others) in the region. The confluence of these factors favoured the diffusion of the brand around the globe. | ||