Dunhill: Difference between revisions

Although Alfred Dunhill was brilliant, he certainly did not imagine that this indicative dot would become his trademark. In 1923, Dunhill had to go to the courts to defend his creation, which was being replicated by [[VAUEN]]. Dunhill was successful, while Vauen had to restrict its use to the German and Austrian borders. The White Spot trade mark was first registered in 1923, eleven years after its introduction.

<blockquote><q>(...)One small problem emerged, however, as customers could not tell which way up to insert the hand-cut vulcanite mouthpiece of straight pipes into the stems of the pipes. Alfred Dunhill therefore ordered white spots to be placed on the true upper sides of the mouthpieces, and thus a world-famous trade mark was created.</q> Balfour, Michael, Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992).</blockquote>

<blockquote><q>According to Bill Carter, the White Spot was introduced soon after the pipe-making unit was moved in 1912 from 28 Duke Street to 6 Mason’s Yard, about 40 yards down Duke Street on the left. Mason’s Yard is an interesting and ancient enclave. It was originally called St Alban’s Mews, after the Earl of St Albans, whose trustees were granted the freehold of the whole area in 1665 by the Crown. It was probably renamed after Richard Mason who, in the 1730s, was granted a victualler’s licence for the house that became the Mason’s Arms.</q> Balfour, Michael, Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992)</blockquote>