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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
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When Alfred Dunhill opened his shop on Duke Street in 1907 it was a tobacco shop. He was a tobacconist, or as he put it in his first catalog a “Mixture Specialist”, prominently displaying a sign in his shop window reading: “Tobacco Specialist”. But first and foremost Alfred Dunhill was a marketer and when he opened his tobacco shop he knew exactly where he wanted to go. In short order, however, he recognized that he had set his sights too low, this is a part of that story. | When Alfred Dunhill opened his shop on Duke Street in 1907 it was a tobacco shop. He was a tobacconist, or as he put it in his first catalog a “Mixture Specialist”, prominently displaying a sign in his shop window reading: “Tobacco Specialist”. But first and foremost Alfred Dunhill was a marketer and when he opened his tobacco shop he knew exactly where he wanted to go. In short order, however, he recognized that he had set his sights too low, this is a part of that story. | ||
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< | <center>'''A Brief Timeline'''</center> | ||
<center>Pre-Transition:</center> | |||
* | Initially, Dunhill sold a wide variety of pre-tinned and vacuum-packed tobacco made by any number of manufacturers. Alfred obtained tobaccos for his mixtures (have been carefully recorded in his My Mixture guide since 1907) from George Dobie & Son of Paisley (a manufacturer of blends located in Paisley, west of the Midland Valley in Scotland) and the Tobacco Supply Syndicate (cooperatives). | ||
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The #965 mixture was introduced in the mid-'10s (and continues in production until nowadays). In 1912 Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged ‘name’ blends: “Royal Yacht”, “Cuba” and “Durbar” (while the blends tailored acted in the background). Two additional pre-tinned blends were introduced during World War I, “Ye Olde Signe” in 1915 and an Oriental, “Harmony” in 1917. “Standard Mixture” (in all three mild, medium and full), “Prince of Wales”, “Three Year Matured” and "Super" were introduced in the early '20s. “London Mixture” was introduced in '28, “Throgmorton”, “Old Colonial” and “Twist” (referred to as “Negro Head Twist” two years later) in '36. In the late '30s, Dunhill introduced “Baby’s Bottom”, “Savory’s Mixture” and “Baby’s Bottom”. In the early '40s “American Mixture” was introduced (was never marketed outside the US). “Harmony”, “Throgmorton” “Twist”/“Negro Head Twist”, “Old Colonial” and “Super” were discontinued between the end of the '40s and the beginning of the '50s. In 1951 “Aperitif”, “Early Morning Pipe” and “Nightcap” were introduced. In the late 1950s “Flake” (later known as “Light Flake”), “Negrohead” and “Shell” were introduced. In the early '60s “Rough Cut Virginia” (like “Negrohead” and “Shell” was offered for only a few years) and “My Lady’s Dunhill Mixture” were introduced. Also in the '60s “Prince of Wales”, “Savory’s Mixture” “Three Year Matured” and “Cuba” were discontinued. Late '60a to the beginning of '70s “Mr Alfred’s Own”, “Aromatic”, “Baby’s Bottom Virginia”, “Baby’s Bottom Flake” and “Dark Flake”, “Elizabethan”, “Golden Hours” and “Virginia Ready Rubbed” were introduced. | |||
In the 80's “American Mixture”, “Aperitif”, all of Baby’s Bottom mixtures, “Dark Flake”, “Durbar” (aka “1066”), “Mr Alfred’s Own” and “Ye Olde Signe” were discontinued. All these blends were produced in-house. | |||
*'''First transition:''' | |||
On 9 January of 1981, the tobacco manufacturing section was moved to Murray Sons & Company Ltd in Northern Ireland and Alfred Dunhill’s investment in Dunhill Tobacco Ltd was sold on to Rothmans International Limited, for a profit of £500,000. The only exception to the Murray transition was the My Mixture blends (other than 965). Available only from the London Duke Street shop. | |||
*'''Second Transition:''' | |||
The tobacco manufacturing was at Murray up to 2005, then was moved to Denmark (when its facility was closed) and were produced since then under the tutelage of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), which was acquired in 2009 by British American Tobacco (BAT). | |||
*'''The Final Chapter:''' | |||
In 2005 Dunhill suspends the sale of tobacco-related products in its shops. | |||
In 2018 Dunhill announced that it would no longer sell or market cigars and pipe tobaccos. | |||
In 2019 STG acquires the rights to reintroduces the old Dunhill blends under the Peterson brand umbrella, STG-Lane Ltd. | |||
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<gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Dunhill's Tobacco Factory in the '60s. Giorgio Savinelli, ''La pipa e i suoi cocktail''. Aldo Gazanti Editore, 1974. Scanned by Bruno de Figueiredo"> | <gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Dunhill's Tobacco Factory in the '60s. Giorgio Savinelli, ''La pipa e i suoi cocktail''. Aldo Gazanti Editore, 1974. Scanned by Bruno de Figueiredo"> | ||
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AD8.jpg|Preparing to export worldwide. | AD8.jpg|Preparing to export worldwide. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> | *<font size="3">See more about this story here: '''[[DUNHILL PIPE TOBACCO: 1907 – 1990]]'''</font> | ||
*<font size="3">See more about tinned tobacco here: '''[[On Dunhill Tinned Tobacco]]'''</font> | |||
*<font size="3">See more date tins here: '''[[DATING ENGLISH TINNED TOBACCO]]'''</font> | |||
*<font size="3">See our Tins Gallery here: '''[[Dunhill Tins Gallery]]'''</font> | |||
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<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> | |||
== About Curiosities ==<!--T:53--> | == About Curiosities ==<!--T:53--> | ||