(2 of 5)
Second Try. The U. S. business of this then minute English concern had been taken over by Tobacco Products Corp. in 1919. In 1923 Rube Ellis was put in charge of its three brands—English Ovals, Oxford Blues and Cambridge—the first a blend and the others Turkish. Mr. Ellis promptly launched Marlboro, a 20¢ cigaret which, with the benefit of an ivory tip, has sold a solid 500,000,000 a year since. Then he lured McKitterick back from a seven-year vacation in Europe and the two quietly began buying Philip Morris stock. In 1931 they had control, got into the 10¢ field with a cigaret called Paul Jones. But they found themselves making little from Marlboro because a 20¢ cigaret has only a limited sale, making less from Paul Jones because it had too small a profit margin for big earnings despite its sales of some 2,000,000,000 in 1932. Rube eyed the 15¢ field dominated by Camels, Lucky Strikes, Chesterfields, Old Golds. He had already tried, with dismal failure, to crack this field with a 15-center named Unis. His second try was Philip Morris English Blend. Launched in January 1933, it was an immediate hit.
Rube Ellis dropped dead that same year and Mac became president. By 1936 when he, too, dropped dead, Philip Morris English Blend had enjoyed gross sales of $21,000,000 — about 3,800,000,000 cigarets. This was a puny total compared with some 35,000,000,000 each sold by Camels, Luckies, Chesterfields. But it was more than half the 5,300,000,000 of Old Gold. Presumably Lorillard Co. executives, who in 1926 had spent $15,000,000 to launch Old Gold, breathed easier with Mac's death. Much of the tobacco industry laid Philip Morris' tremendous success primarily to the personalities of Rube and Mac. That Philip Morris had other assets was presently demonstrated. New President Chalkley and First Vice President Lyon increased Philip Morris sales and profits by a full 100%.
Rum & Flavor. In the Philip Morris factory in Richmond, where long lines of colored girls chant improvised songs all day long in the humid redolence of tobacco, Philip Morris cigarets are manufactured by virtually the standard process used by all the big popular brands—Turkish and U. S. tobaccos are mixed, sprayed with a special flavoring formula which gives each brand its own particular taste. Since taste is a big selling point, each brand's flavoring mixture is a trade secret, but the basis for all flavoring is rum. Only other ingredient cigaret companies reveal is a hygroscopic agent mixed with the tobacco to attract moisture. In most cigarets the hygroscopic agent is glycerin; Philip Morris uses diethylene glycol. The result, it claims, with substantiation from many a doctor, is less irritation to the membranes of the throat.*