Dunhill Curiosities: the Brand's Lesser-Known Records

Dunhill Curiosities is a heading gathering a number of records that do not fit into the known history of the Alfred Dunhill brand. It brings together patent files, workshop practice, a manufacturing license granted abroad, and the fate of the founder's private collection — independent details from one another. The brand's main story is in the entry on Dunhill (White Spot); the items here can be considered marginal notes to that story.

Cartridge Filling and the Vernon Connection

One of the inventions registered under Alfred Dunhill's name is a ready-made tobacco cartridge designed to speed up filling the pipe. The application in the United States was filed on 19 September 1921; the document numbered 1,490,808, titled "Means for Charging Smoking Pipes," was issued on 15 April 1924. The idea was simple: cylindrically compacted tobacco was wrapped in an easily torn paper or similar wrapping, and pulling a strip attached to the wrapping opened the packaging, seating the tobacco mass directly into the chamber. The cartridges were promoted in the tobacco section of the firm's "About Smoke" catalogue.

The second file is registered under Vernon Dunhill and concerns the spring-loaded push (spigot) mechanism connecting the mouthpiece to the shank. A longitudinally split metal tang holds the mouthpiece in place by pressing against the opposing band; it releases when pulled and re-grips when pushed. Two versions of the mechanism are known, one mounted on the shank and the other on the mouthpiece, and both are reported to have been used from the early 1930s to mid-1936. It appears in pipe literature that provisional protection was obtained in Britain in April 1931, and that the patent was finalized under number 363582 at the end of the same year; this has not been confirmed from the official registration record. The American counterpart was granted under number 1,861,910 in 1932. The role of stamps from this period in dating is the subject of the entry on Dunhill Patent Stamps and Dating.