Senior Service (cigarette)

Senior Service is a British brand of filterless cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco.[1] The brand is named after the nickname of the Royal Navy.[2]

Senior Service
An old pack of Senior Service cigarettes
Product typeCigarette
OwnerGallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco
CountryUnited Kingdom
Introduced1925 (1925)
MarketsSee Markets
Previous ownersJ.A. Pattreiouex Ltd
Tagline"Senior Service Satisfy"

History

Senior Service was launched in 1925 by "J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd", a company that was acquired by Gallaher in 1937.[3][4][5] Senior Service is still available in various supermarkets throughout the United Kingdom, and is one of the most expensive brands available for purchase.[2] One of the most popular slogans used with the brand is "Senior Service Satisfy".

In 1938, J. A. Pattreioux Ltd. issued a 48-card set of "Flying" cigarette trading photo cards that were issued with Senior Service cigarettes. The cards measure 3.05 × 2.05 inches (77.47 × 52.07 mm), and were assigned the London Cigarette Card Company Catalog reference number H.564-3B. The fronts of the 1938 "Flying" cards featured glossy black-and-white photos surrounded by a thin white margin. The card title was located in a rectangular white box centered at the bottom of the image area. The photo cards were presented in both landscape(horizontal) and portrait (vertical) formats. The backs of the cards, printed with black ink, featured two rectangular boxes surrounded by a common rectangular box. The top box featured four vertical segments: (1) the name of the set "FLYING" with two opposing airplane icons; (2) the series length and card number; (3) the card title; and (4) descriptive text. The lower box displayed the products name "Senior Service cigarettes".[4] Various poster advertisements were made to promote Senior Service cigarettes as well.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

In 1999 the Senior Service cigarette factory that produced the Senior Service cigarettes on Ashton Road, Hyde was closed down and later demolished in 2011. It had opened in 1905, and manufactured cigarettes until 1999, when production was moved to Northern Ireland[14]

Packaging

The pack is white, with an orange-blue stripe at the top. The new pack removed the orange and instead put two seagulls on either side of the pack. The brand's emblem is a sailing ship, with on the side two olive tree branches and on top a crown. Underneath is written "Senior Service" with underneath that the words "The perfection of Cigarette Luxury". The old packs had the words "Fine Virginia" written instead. On the reverse side of the original packaging, the words "A Product of the Master Mind." were written.

James Bond smokes Senior Service cigarettes in Ian Fleming's novels, Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, and The Man with the Golden Gun.[15]

It has appeared at 28' on Aki Kaurismaki's film I Hired a Contract Killer (1990).

Mentioned by Polly Shelby in Peaky Blinders (TV series), Series 3 Episode 4.

They are mentioned in the film The Bank Job

Elvis Costello wrote a song titled "Senior Service" in 1979 with many references to smoking a cigarette.

Mentioned on the Only Fools and Horses episode The Yellow Peril as Joan Trotter's brand of cigarette.

Markets

Senior Service is mainly sold in the United Kingdom, but also is or was sold in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and South Africa.[16][17][18]

They were discontinued by the manufacturer in the UK from January 2020.

See also

References
  1. Peter Hitchens, The War We Never Fought: The British Establishment's Surrender to Drugs
  2. "Stubbed out: the 21 most iconic cigarette packets of all time". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  3. "CHAPTER 4. OTHER MANUFACTURERS" (PDF). Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. p. 55. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "1938 Flying, H.564-3B, J.A. Pattreioux, UK". Skytamer.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  5. "Gallaher's cigarette factory closure: Sad chapter in the history of an industrial giant that sprang from humble origins". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  6. "Stock Photo - cigarette advert - Advert for Senior Service cigarettes in Punch magazine dated 17th November 1965". Alamy.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  7. "Tilleys Vintage Magazines : ORIGINAL 1953 SENIOR SERVICE CIGARETTES AD. FOR SALE NOV 7 SMOKING CLASSIC IMAGES OF THE TWENTIETH C". Tilleysvintagemagazines.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. "Senior Service Cigarettes 1950S - Manor Art". Manorart.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. "Vintage Tobacco/ Cigarette Ads of the 1950s (Page 2)". Vintageadbrowser.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. Elsey, Brian. "Advert Museum - Senior Service". Historyworld.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  11. "Senior Service Cigarettes - Available on Planes Everywhere". Pinterest. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  12. "senior services". Pinterest. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  13. "Get Satisfaction Again – Senior Service Cigarettes". Advertsadvertsadverts.wordpress.com. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  14. "Bulldozers move in to demolish Senior Service". Manchester Evening News. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  15. Leigh, David. "Other James Bond cigarette brands". The James Bond Dossier. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  16. "BrandSenior Service - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  17. "Senior Service". Zigsam.at. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  18. "Brands". Cigarety.by. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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