More Cigarets?

In 1912, an ambitious young man named Alfred Emanuel Lyon went to work selling cigarets to stores on Manhattan's lower East Side. In the first three days he failed to sell a pack; every sales talk got the same answer: "Schicken." Just in time, a friend stopped Lyon from chucking the whole business. "Schicken," said he, did not mean "no," as Lyon had thought; it meant "send them."

Last week, Al Lyon, at 59, got ready to move into the biggest selling job of his life, the $100,000-a-year presidency of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd., Inc. But he has little to sell. He cracked: "I take over April Fools' Day."

When he takes over, Philip Morris' president, shy, lanky O. H. Chalkley, moves into the new job of board chairman. Since 1936, when they got the job of running Philip Morris, Chalkley & Lyon have been one of the smoothest management blends in the tobacco business. Chalkley keeps his eye on tobacco buying. Al Lyon does the selling. His first job was to turn Philip Morris from a "class" cigaret which sold only 3,800,000,000 a year into a popular brand.

The trick was turned chiefly by an offbeat advertising campaign that plugged Philip Morris 1) with Midget Johnny ("Call for Philip Morris") Roventini, who now gets $20,000 a year, is insured for $100,000 against growing an inch, and has two understudies, 2) by paying college students to pass cigarets out to friends.

Philip Morris soon took Old Gold's place in the Big Four. By 1943, Al Lyon had boosted sales to 29 billion cigarets a year, was drawing a bead on his nearest leader, Chesterfield. Then the war began to pinch production. His galloping sales increases slowed down to a walk. Now, production is virtually frozen at 34 billion cigarets a year (six brands) compared to Liggett & Myers' (Chesterfield) 66 bil lions, R. J. Reynolds' (Camel) 77 billions and American's (Lucky Strike) 94 billions.

Al Lyon does not expect the present shortage to last long. He insists that it is, to some extent, an artificial one, caused by 1) hoarding and increased consumption, 2) the black market, 3) necessary over-buying by the armed services. Said he; "The Army has to buy six to nine cartons for every one smoked abroad to keep their pipelines filled."

He expects that military buying will taper off and hoarding ease after Germany quits. Said he: "A month after V-E day the present pinch in cigarets will be over."

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