Recently, I did a post on the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company and Camel® cigarettes. One of my friends, who smoked Philip Morris for years, asked what I knew of the Philip Morris company beyond the advertising of “Call for Philip Morris!”
According to Philip Morris International, the history of what is now a global company can be traced back to Mr. Philip Morris’s 1847 opening of a single shop on London’s Bond Street, selling tobacco and ready-made cigarettes. It was called “Philip Morris, Esq., Tobacconist and Importer of Fine Seegars.”
Morris was previously a London merchant with an aristocratic clientele. He took advantage of the demand for “Russian mode” cigarettes initiated by British soldiers returning from the Crimean War to Victorian London. Morris hired on a group of expert “rollers” imported from Russia, Turkey, and Egypt. These workers turned out expensive brands: Philip Morris Cambridge, Oxford Blues, and Ovals, and they were snapped up the populace. These workers were some of the best in London, and they could turn out some 3000 cigarettes in a typical 10-hours’ day.
The popularity of Philip Morris brand cigarettes grew, and demand spread to every outpost of Empire. They eventually made their way to the American market. In 1872, Gustav Eckmeyer became the exclusive importer of the cigarettes in New York. In 1902, Eckmeyer helped to organize investors and the manufacturing of cigarettes in America under the brand of New York Philip Morris Corporation. Marlboro® was one of its earliest brands.
On Mr. Morris’s death, the business was taken over by his wife Margaret and his brother Leopold. In 1881 the Company went public, Leopold Morris joining Joseph Grunebaum to establish Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum, Ltd. This partnership was dissolved in 1885 and the Company became known as Philip Morris & Co., Ltd.
The Company finally left the founding family’s control in 1894, when it was taken over by William Curtis Thomson and his family. Under Thomson, the Company was appointed tobacconist to King Edward VII and, in 1902, was incorporated in New York, by Gustav Eckmeyer. Ownership was split 50-50 between the British parent and American partners. Eckmeyer had been sole agent for Philip Morris in the U.S. since 1872, importing and selling English-made cigarettes.
American stockholders bought the firm in 1919, and the image created by Philip Morris in that first shop on Bond Street was a major sale point. The company grew in the competitive tobacco industry.
1919 was a crucial year for the Company. It saw the introduction of the Philip Morris coronet logo, the acquisition of the Philip Morris Company in the U.S. by a new firm owned by American shareholders, and its incorporation in Virginia under the name of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd., Inc. By the end of the next decade, the Company had begun to manufacture cigarettes in its factory in Richmond, Virginia; in 1924, what was to become its most famous brand, Marlboro, was introduced. By the mid-1950s the Company had become a part of American culture, and soon after it launched Philip Morris International (PMI) to manufacture and market its products around the world.
But what of the signature “Call for Philip Morris!”? How did it come about? John Roventini was a 22-year-old dwarf working as a bell hop at the New Yorker Hotel at the time. Milton Biow and Kenneth Goode were two advertising me. The three got together, and the result was magic. Biow and Goode presented Roventini a card upon which was printed “Call for Philip Morris.” Roventini, who was known for his charming disposition, took up the task. He strode through the New Yorker’s crowded lobby, singing out the now famous phrase, “Call for Philip Mar-a-iss! Call for Philip Mar-a-iss!”
Roventini’s voice and unique inflections caught the attention of everyone in the lobby. Biow and Goode had not only created an engaging slogan, but had found their pitch man.
Additional Resources:
Campbell, Hannah. Why Did They Name It? Fleet Press, ©1964, pages 114-115.
Cox, Jim (23 May 2008). Sold on Radio: Advertisers in the Golden Age of Broadcasting. McFarland. p. 205.
Happy October Birthday to some of our favorite actors, who took on roles in an Austen-inspired film. 
October 3 – Lena Headey
October 4 – Alicia Silverstone
October 27 – Joanna Scanlan
October 28 – Matt Smith
October 29 – Paul Daneman
To this gifting tradition, we might add the legend of St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra (beginning in the 4th Century). The St. Nicholas legend says the the priest bestowed gifts upon the poor throughout Asia Minor. The images of “Santa Claus” and of “Christmas stockings” can be traced to St. Nicholas’s life’s work. The anniversary of St. Nicholas’s death (December 6) was often marked during the Middle Ages with the bestowing of gifts on children.
On December 25, 1067, William the Conqueror donated a large sum of money to the Pope. This act planted the seed for change in Eastern Europe and later England and America. In Germany, many chose to give gifts to friends and neighbors anonymously. The Dutch did something similar, but they made it into a “treasure hunt” with written clues to where the gifts were located. The Danes were the first to wrap presents. They would put a small box into a larger one and then another one, etc., etc.
“Robert Southwell was born around 1561 at Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk, the youngest son and fifth child in a family of eight. The Southwells, a county family that had prospered from the dissolution of the monasteries, formed part of a network of wealthy, interrelated families that included the Wriothsleys, Howards, Bacons, and Cecils as well as recusants such as Vaux, Arden, and Copley. Southwell was a studious boy whose father liked to call him ‘Father Robert.’ In 1576 Southwell, like many other boys of his class, was sent overseas to be educated in the Jesuit school at Douai. He would not see England again for ten years. Between the ages of fifteen and seventeen he became convinced of his vocation to a religious life, and in 1578 he was admitted to the noviceship at Rome, where he embarked upon his formation as a Jesuit. In 1581 he transferred from the Roman to the English College, where he became tutor and perfect of studies. He was ordained in 1584 and was sent on the English mission in 1586, landing secretly with his fellow Jesuit Henry Garnet somewhere between Dover and Folkestone in early July. He was about twenty-five years old. 
“His earliest works, dating from his Roman years, are Latin poems preserved at Stonyhurst. Brian Oxley has shown that these youthful poems share the mature Southwell’s habits of thought as well as the verbal artistry found in his English work: “Southwell’s sense of the artifice of holy things, and indeed, of the holiness of artifice, is central to his life and work.” The Latin poems are evidence of a strong, probably irresistible vocation as a writer and poet. 
I love unusual words and phrases and often make note of them as I read. Today, we have a nice mix. 
There are suggestions that this expression derives from from ‘as nice as ninepins.’ In the game of Ninepins (Skittles) the pins are set out in a square. For the game to be fair this must be done neatly and accurately or, in the old parlance, nicely. There are no early records of ‘as nice as ninepins’ in print, which we might expect if the ‘ninepence’ version derived from it. The ‘ninepins’ form, in the guise of ‘as smart as ninepins’ isn’t found until the 20th century, so it is reasonable to assume that it is a simple mishearing of the earlier ‘as neat/clean/grand as ninepence’ versions.
The Female Servants Home Society was located at 21 Nutford Place and 110 Hatton Garden. Lodging was available on Nutford Place for 1s. 9d. per week. At Hatton Garden, the cost was 1s. Medical attendants cared for those too ill to work. The society granted to servants who continued in the same employment rewards proportionate to their length of service. Those who were employed for two years received a copy of the Bible. Five years earned the servant a certificated testimonial and a suitable book. A silver medal was handed out for nine years service, and a good medal rewarded for fifteen years. The group founded homes to receive female servants who were displaced. Those in residence were given religious instruction, as well as advice on providing excellent service. 
Okay, I know the calendar says September 19, but you cannot tell me you have not already seen Christmas decorations up in some of the big box stores. Years prior, I cursed the stores when they brought out Christmas items before Thanksgiving. Needless to say, no one in marketing paid any attention to my pithy complaints. Then Christmas appeared before Halloween. Now, it is here shortly after the “Back to School” sales. In truth, I gave up!!! If I cannot beat them, I will join them. I have not written a “Christmas” themed Pride and Prejudice story since Ulysses Press released Christmas at Pemberley, but today I introduce you to Mr. Darcy’s Present: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Vagary. It officially released on September 13. 
Every Woman Dreams... 
