WWII Phase
During the bombing of the infamous Luftwaffe Blitz in London, there by mid-1941, the Alfred Dunhill store (and many others in the surrounding area) was bombed and almost totally destroyed. Only in 1953 was fully restored. A popular tale says that when this happened, Dunhill's employees called Sir. Winston Churchill at 4:00 a.m. to ensure that his private collection of cigars (which were stored in the store's humidifier) had already been safely transferred. As we will see in the following image, Henry Dunhill continued to sell pipes facing the rubble and ruins of his shop. An example of resiliency.
Alfred Henry Dunhill began his journey ahead of the brand after his father's appointment in 1928, becoming the president. A function He exercised until 1961, when he decided to leave the scene and transfer possession of the post to his sister, Mary Dunhill. He passed away ten years later, in 1971, at the age of 75.
In another rare image, courtesy of our friend Jonathan Guss, we have a clipping of a magazine that says:
Mr. Alfred H. Dunhill holding a fragment of the wreckage of the store on Duke Street, St. Jame's in London, which was founded by his father. Tobbaco in February told the romantic story of the store that was a spacious, graceful place of light and bright woods with beveled glass and that was ruined by Hitler's air Force in a night attack.