CIGARETTEBRANDS

CIGARETTE BRANDS

Benson & Hedges

The original Benson & Hedges tobacconists shop was opened in 1873 by Richard Benson (1817-1882) and William Hedges (1836-1913). Temperamentally, they were different. The former, who had grown up in tobacco trade, was an uncouth man, whereas the latter was a pious Wesleyan Methodist who felt a degree of ambiguity about his chosen trade. The firm was granted a royal warrant by the Prince of Wales in 1878.

The business was turned into a limited company in 1896. The following year Benson & Hedges established a subsidiary in the United States to import cigars. This developed a cigarette manufacturing operation so that it could avoid import duties. In 1901 Hedges's son Alfred Paget Hedges (1867-1929) became the sole proprietor. Five years later King Edward VII granted the firm a royal warrant. In 1910 Bension & Hedges became a public company. In 1920 it opened a factory in Fulham.

In 1926 Benson & Hedges sold its unprofitable Canadian subsidiary (established in 1906) to an investor who was already associated with it. This started a process by which the brand fell into different ownership in different territories. Two years later the United States operations became an independent company. In 1955 the British rights of the Benson & Hedges cigarette brand were bought by Gallaher, another cigarette company. The following year British American Tobacco purchased Benson & Hedges (Overseas). 1958 Philip Morris bought the American Benson & Hedges. In 2007 Japan Tobacco acquired Gallaher Group. Seven years later the company closed Gallaher's facility, which was the last cigarette factory in Britain.

King George VI granted the firm a royal warrant in 1946. Six years later he died of lung cancer. Yet, four years later his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, also granted it a royal warrant. In 1999 she withdrew it. This was because its products were no longer being consumed with Buckingham Palace

Location: 104 New King's Road, SW6 4LY

13 Old Bond Street, W1S 4SX (purple, blue)

Website: www.jti.com/europe/united-kingdom www.bensonandhedges.co.uk

British & American Tobacco

Location: Globe House, 4 Temple Place, WC2R 2PG (purple, yellow)

Website: www.bat.com

Carreras

In 1843 Don Jose Carreras-y-Ferrer, a Spaniard, settled in London in order to escape political difficulties in his homeland. He acquired a cigar selling business at No. 7 Wardour Street, where he installed a shop cat. The black beast spent much of the day snoozing in the window. Passers-by took to referring to the business as the black cat shop . Don Jose's son, Don Jose Joaquin Carreras, became a noted blender of snuff and tobacco. In 1852 the firm acquired premises off Leicester Square. The image of a black cat became one of the motifs by which the business projected its image. In 1886 Black Cat became Carreras's first registered trademark.

The younger Don Jose created the Craven Mixture pipe tobacco blend for the 3^rd Earl of Craven. In 1894 the Carreras family sold the business to a Mr W.J. Yapp. He had worked in the shoe industry and appreciated that there was scope for improving the Carreras business's marketing. Three years later he persuaded the writer J.M. Barrie to endorse the Craven Mixture brand. The author had referred to a fictional Arcadia Mixture in his novel My Lady Nicotine, A Study In Smoke (1890); this had been Craven Mixture under an assumed name. In 1899 Craven Mixture hand-rolled cigarettes were launched. Four years later Mr Yapp started a business relationship Bernhard Baron, who was a manufacturer of cigarette making machines. The latter became the dominant figure within Carreras. In 1904 the Black Cat cigarette brand was launched. Its packets included coupons that could be used to redeem gifts with. Three years later the firm opened its Arcadia Works on the City Road. In 1921 Carreras launched Craven A cigarettes. Using Virginia-grown tobacco, these were the first machine-made cigarettes to have cork tips. The brand became an international one.

At the time of its opening the Carreras Arcadia Works (1928) in Camden Town was the world's largest cigarette factory. It was housed in the planet's largest reinforced concrete building, the Art Deco decorations of which were inspired by the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Cats had had a prominent role in Egyptian imagery. The building's front was presided over by two black cats that were based on the feline-headed Egyptian goddess Bubastis. A further ten midnight blue moggies were incorporated into the fa ade's mouldings, along with other Egyptian inspired motifs. The factory had an advanced air ventilation and dust extraction system. This had the side-effect of making the surrounding district reek of tobacco.

During the Second World War the Black Cat cigarette brand was withdrawn. In 1950 the Craven A brand was also taken off the market. Seven years later the Black Cat brand was relaunched. However, it failed to recover its pre-war vitality and was withdrawn again two years later. The firm was to have more success with its new Guards brand.

The Arcadia Works's operations were transferred to a factory in Basildon. In 1958 Carreras was acquired by Rothmans of Pall Mall. The Arcadia building was sold the following year. In the early 1960s the structure was converted into offices, a process that involved it being stripped of its original Art Deco decorations. The edifice became known as Greater London House. In the late 1990s the original decorations were recreated and remounted.¹

Location: Greater London House, Hampstead Road, NW1 7SD. The principal local landlords were the Pratt family. Much of their wealth was derived from the Jeffreys who had been London's leading tobacco merchants in the 18^thC. (purple, blue)

¹. In 1984 Carreras Rothman announced the closure of its plant in Basildon.

Dunhill

In 1907 Alfred Dunhill opened his first upmarket tobacconists shop.

Over the years the company extended itself into retailing smokers' requisites and from there moved into similar pocket-sized items such as pens and watches.

In 1963 Dunhill started manufacturing cigarettes.

In 1967 Carreras acquired a majority holding in Alfred Dunhill.

Location: 48 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6LX (blue, purple)

Website: www.dunhill.com/experience/en/store/jermyn-street

Rothman s of Pall Mall.

Louis Rothman (1868-1926) was born in Kiev. His family owned the largest cigarette manufacturing business in The Ukraine. In the mid-1880s he moved to Britain. He opened a kiosk in Fleet Street in 1890. From it he sold hand-rolled cigarettes that he made himself. In 1905 the firm was granted a royal warrant by King Edward VII. Rothman invented the menthol cigarette in 1906. Seven years later he merged his business with Marcus Weinberg's (1859-1923) Weinberg & Company to form Yenidje Tobacco Company.

During the First World War there was a boom in cigarette consumption, however, it became hard to secure Turkish-grown tobacco. Weinberg responded to the situation by arguing the business should focus on producing upmarket products, whereas Rothman believed that it should supply the mass market. In 1917 he bought out his partner's interest in the business. Pall Mall, which was made with American tobacco, became the firm's best-selling brand. In 1922 he altered the business by focussing on direct mail-order sales to customers, reducing his prices. During the four following years sales increased by 400%. By the early 1930s Rothmans had become Britain's largest supplier of mail-order cigarettes.

Sydney Rothman, Louis's son, became a partner in the business 1923. In 1927 the firm still had a number of retail shops: 5 Pall Mall, 4 Cheapside, 113 Holborn, 10 Kensington High Street, 1 & Langham Place, and 26 Queen Victoria Street. Two years later in became a public company.

Rothmans had a highly productive Second World War. However, its sales declined after the return of peace. In 1954 Anton Rupert's (1916-2006) Rembrandt Tobacco Group paid 750,000 for Rothmans. Rupert retained Sydney Rothman as the company's chairman. The South African had it launched king-size filter tips which a fifth longer than Rothmans's existing products. These proved to be popular. Sydney Rothman stepped down as the chairman of Rothmans in 1979.

British & American Tobacco paid 5.3bn for Rothmans in 1999.

Location: 5 Pall Mall, SW1Y 4UY (purple, grey)

David Backhouse 2024