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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
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With great energy and creativity, Alfred was also involved in building construction in mid-1902, concurrently with the tobacco business. At the end of 1906 he was forced to leave this project to direct his energies to the growing demands of his basilar project, the tobacconary. Alfred was fascinated by architecture and design and submitted his houses (in the city and in the countryside) to frequent changes during his retirement. He also looked into the possibility of investing in the sweets and toys businesses, but did not have a chance to pursue them. | With great energy and creativity, Alfred was also involved in building construction in mid-1902, concurrently with the tobacco business. At the end of 1906 he was forced to leave this project to direct his energies to the growing demands of his basilar project, the tobacconary. Alfred was fascinated by architecture and design and submitted his houses (in the city and in the countryside) to frequent changes during his retirement. He also looked into the possibility of investing in the sweets and toys businesses, but did not have a chance to pursue them. | ||
<blockquote>(...) my father having moved from London in order to build houses in what was then a small Buckinghamshire village. Although he knew little about the building trade, this was one of several commercial ventures he packed into the first thirty years of his life. The point behind this one was that the new railway line from Marylebone to Aylesbury had already passed through the village, its hourly trains making it possible for more prosperous commuters to move into deeper country. As they were likely to need better houses than Great Missenden could provide, my father bought a few acres of land close to the station, made a deal with a local builder to put up half a dozen fairly conventional houses to his design, took the first of them for himself and, over the next couple of years, sold the lot. | |||
As part of a larger Great Missenden, those houses are still standing. Yet I am fairly sure that, when the profit on the cost of houses at that time had been split, my father made little money from the venture. It was not one of his more imaginative enterprises, though it illustrates his readiness to speculate on an idea he belivied in. Mary Dunhill - Our Family Business, 1979</blockquote> | |||
After much work and dedication, the first version of his book, "The Pipe Book" was published in 1924 (the same year as the 5th edition of "About Smoke"). The Pipe Book contained 262 pages in its first version, it suffered a decrease to 207 pages in the revision of 1969, although with the addition of the preface by Alfred H. Dunhill. It's a real treatise on the history of the pipes. Illustrated with 228 drawings, 30 photographs, and 3 maps containing detailed descriptions. | After much work and dedication, the first version of his book, "The Pipe Book" was published in 1924 (the same year as the 5th edition of "About Smoke"). The Pipe Book contained 262 pages in its first version, it suffered a decrease to 207 pages in the revision of 1969, although with the addition of the preface by Alfred H. Dunhill. It's a real treatise on the history of the pipes. Illustrated with 228 drawings, 30 photographs, and 3 maps containing detailed descriptions. | ||