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Duke St, London, post-bombing (c1941)
In 1939 World War II began and by the early 1940s, London became a prime target of German air raids and a huge amount of structural damage was experienced all over the capital.
The dunhill shop itself suffered a direct hit on April 17th, 1941. Coverage of the air raid was published in a number of national publications and the image of Alfred Henry outside, continuing to sell dunhill product to his clients, was used successfully as propaganda to boost morale throughout London (and the rest of England).
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Everything but the Motor
Alfred’s early motoring business offered its clients "Everything but the Motor” including items from motor horns, clothing and lamps to road maps, emergency tool kits and dashboard clocks.
The motoring business continued until 1931 and as it developed reflected the gradual change of mood towards driving in England. Consequently, as driving became more of an enjoyable past time, dunhill introduced a range of luncheon sets, trunks and even portable baths !
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New York
Keen to expand the dunhill brand into the USA, a gentleman named D.A. Schulte offered his experience and financial backing to Alfred. In 1921 a dunhill shop opened on 5th Avenue at 42nd Street, and a year later moved a little further up the road to 5th and 43rd.
By the 1930s, the shop was so successful it moved premises again into the British Empire Building at Rockefeller centre. Spread over five floors, the retail space offered anything from games compendia to cocktail sets.
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Duke St, London (1907)
In 1907, Alfred began to work on a new business venture, one that would supply luxury accessories for the modern gentleman. Its initial collection included items such as pipes but later expanded to comprise leathergoods, timepieces, lighters, fragrance and more.
Duke Street, the location Alfred chose for his shop, was surrounded by many of St James’s fashionable gentlemen’s clubs, and with retailers such as Fortnum and Mason in such close proximity he felt in good company.
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U.S. Expansion
During the 1950s, the US continued to view dunhill as synonymous with luxury and as one advertising campaign read: "It’s Champagne, it’s Caviar, it’s dunhill!”
Accordingly, more stores were needed in the US and so expansion was instructed with openings on Rodeo Drive in 1951, Chicago in 1958 and San Francisco in 1961.
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A New Era
Following the devastating destruction of the Duke St shop during World War II, work on a new dunhill HQ began in 1955. One notable differencethat the store would now occupy space on both Jermyn St and Duke St.
The new building ushered in a new era for dunhill and, with an improved new collection of products ranging from eau-de-cologne to dinner jackets and lighters to luggage, this destination store was more desirable than ever to its clients.
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dunhill in the Far East
Following the successful expansion of dunhill into the US and Europe, the Far East and Australia seemed a natural progression.
In 1966, a store in Hong Kong was opened and in 1969, one in Tokyo. The latter of these stores had many visitors during its first year of opening including H.R.H Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon during British Week. The pair were said to have spent one hour and a half touring the shop, mainly interested in a silver display exclusively loaned to dunhill for the event.
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15 Rue de la Paix (1924)
With the onset of World War I, dunhill sent parcels filled with items from the Duke St shop to officers on the front line, bringing dunhill product into the view of individuals from the USA and France.
In 1924, dunhill opened a shop located at 15 Rue de la Paix, Paris. Due to import restrictions on certain items, dunhill had the chance to introduce a new selection of interesting products. Sourcing from all over Europe different materials and inspiration for new designs, the French shop showcased some of the most luxurious and elegant pieces of art.
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The dunhill catalogue
Throughout the 1910s, 20s and 30s dunhill continued to create mail order catalogues for its clients. These were produced in-house and began to use the LONGTAIL logo from 1934 onwards along with the THREE FEATHERS of the Prince of Wales.
These catalogues provide an excellent reference to the diversity of product produced during these early years of commerce, which ranged from custom leather goods, unique timepieces, to decorative writing instruments. dunhill now began to have a confident sense of its own identity and showcased its collections proudly.
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Joining the Family Business
Alfred Dunhill joined the family horse and saddlery business in 1887 as an apprentice on his father’s instruction. During this period, Alfred learnt how the business worked at floor level and soon began to understand the complexities of managing a company.
Following his father’s retirement in 1893, Alfred took over. Initially, he continued to make products for the horse and carriage but soon became interested in developing accessories for a new mode of transport, the motor car.
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The dunhill Cup
Over the years, dunhill has been involved in a range of different sponsorship initiatives. For instance, in 1968 it became involved in supporting the GB Olympic sailing team and between 1978 and 1982 supplied products to Sir Ranulph Fiennes for his Transglobe Expedition. These products had to withstand temperatures of -53 centigrade.
In 1985, the dunhill Cup, a golf tournament in which countries played against one another in three-men teams, was launched. The first trophy went to Australia, whose team members were Greg Norman, Graham Marsh and David Graham.
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359-361 Euston Road (c1904)
One of the first major shops Alfred opened to launch his relatively new motoring enterprise was located on Euston Road (only slightly further away from his initial shop). To prevent confusion over what was on offer he had "DUNHILL MOTORITIES” attached to its façade.
This initial building was extensive, holding offices, workshops and a retail space.
By the early 1900s, dunhill’s was supplying the pioneering motorist with all their motoring requisites and in 1904 produced a catalogue offering over 1300 new products.