Dunhill's Blends: the Blend Catalogue and Packaging History

Dunhill's Blends is the collective name for the named blends coming out of the tobacconist's shop Alfred Dunhill opened in 1907 on Duke Street in London. How the catalogue grew and shrank year by year is the subject of Dunhill Pipe Tobaccos: 1907-1990; the individual character of the blends and their present-day counterparts are covered in Dunhill Tobacco Blends.

Here we look at the lesser-discussed side of the catalogue: the forms in which the tobacco was packaged, how a recipe was written into the ledger, and what changed when the blending business moved to another facility.

Tobacco Sold by the Unit

The catalogue's first leap on the packaging side predates even the named blends. "Self-Filling Tobacco Cartridges," introduced in 1910, were paper-wrapped cylinders of pressed tobacco; instead of weighing and filling, the smoker placed the ready cylinder directly into the bowl. Because of this, the product was sold by the unit rather than by weight. The system was patented in 1910; its scope was expanded in 1918 and 1920. The system's flaw became apparent over time: for the cylinder to seat properly, the bowl's inner diameter had to be maintained, meaning the pipe needed regular reaming. The cartridges stayed in the catalogue up to the years of the Second World War; records indicate that Edward, Prince of Wales, and his brother George VI were among those who favoured this form.

The second innovation was a product of front-line conditions. From 1915, blends were also offered as quarter-pound pressed cakes wrapped in lead foil; the cake's outer covering was cloth, which could be used as a pouch as the tobacco was rubbed away. This "travel pack" stayed on the list, unchanged in form, into the 1960s. In the same years, temporary blends called Campaign Plug and Campaign Mixture, along with a plain Campaign Pipe aimed at bulk purchase, were offered to the troops.