Senior Service was a British brand of filterless

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s, owned and manufactured by

Gallaher Group Gallaher Group, referred as Gallaher's Tobacco, or simply Gallaher's, was a United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company which traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its acquisition by A ...

, a subsidiary of

Japan Tobacco The (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company and parent company to Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers in the world. It was established in 1985 as a that inherited the ri ...

. The brand was named after the nickname of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Senior Service was sold mainly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and also in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After a long period of decline, as filtered cigarettes came to dominate a declining UK market, they were discontinued by the manufacturer in the UK from January 2020.

History

Senior Service was launched in 1925 by ''"J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd"'', a company that was acquired by Gallaher in 1937. Senior Service is no longer available in the United Kingdom, and was one of the most expensive brands available for purchase. One of the most popular slogans used with the brand was ''"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". Various poster advertisements were made to promote Senior Service cigarettes as well. In 1999, the Senior Service cigarette factory that produced the Senior Service cigarettes on Ashton Road,

Hyde, Greater Manchester Hyde is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974. The built-up area as defined by the Office for Nati ...

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 Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Packaging

The pack is white, with an orange-blue stripe at the top. The new pack removed the orange and instead put two

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s 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.

In popular culture

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

smokes Senior Service cigarettes in Ian Fleming's novels, '' Goldfinger'', '' Thunderball'', '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', and '' The Man with the Golden Gun''. It has appeared at 28' on Aki Kaurismaki's film ''

I Hired a Contract Killer ''I Hired a Contract Killer'' is a film directed, produced and written by the Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki in 1990. It is a Finnish-British-German- Swedish co-production and stars the renowned French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. The film also f ...

'' (1990). Mentioned by Polly Shelby in ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'', Series 3 Episode 4. They are mentioned in the film ''

The Bank Job ''The Bank Job'' is a 2008 heist thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It is based on the 1971 burglary of Lloyds Bank safety deposit boxes in Baker Street. It stars Jason Statham. The ...

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge ( ; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress and singer, best known for her comedy role as Hyacinth Bucket in the popular BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), for which she was nominated for ...

, playing the mundane monologuer Kitty, first originated on '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'', describes the fictional and unseen producer of the supposed television show as stubbing out her Senior Service when they meet.

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

wrote a song titled "Senior Service" in 1979 with many references to smoking a cigarette. Mentioned on the ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'' episode " The Yellow Peril" as Joan Trotter's brand of cigarette. Detective Inspector Harris offers a Senior Service cigarette to Melville Farr in the film ''

Victim Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to: People * Crime victim * Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis * Casualty (person), the victim of an event Films and television * ''The Victim ...

'' (1961). In the movie ''

Mortelle randonnée ''Mortelle Randonnée'' is a 1983 French thriller film inspired by the novel ''Eye of the Beholder'' by Marc Behm. Directed by Claude Miller, the film stars Michel Serrault as The "Eye" Beauvoir, Isabelle Adjani as Catherine, and Geneviève Page ...

'',

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She has received various accolades, including five César Awards and a Lumière Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. ...

smokes Senior Service cigarettes. The

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...

episode "Aff" from 2004 features pensioner Winston Ingram favouring the brand, declaring "Senior Service, nae arsing aboot wi yer poofy Silkys", referencing to the difference in strength of tobacco between Senior Service and

Silk Cut Silk Cut is a British brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group. The packaging is characterised by a distinctive stark white packet with the brand name in a purple, blue, red, silver, white or green square. History ...

. His 80-a-day habit resulted in his right leg being amputated. Pack of Senior Service was filmed in HBO Series Pacific Part3 Ep3 on table in pub smoked by Sgt John Basilone played by Jon Seda In

The Zone of Interest (novel) ''The Zone of Interest'' is the fourteenth novel by the English author Martin Amis, published in 2014. Set in Auschwitz, it tells the story of a Nazi officer who has become enamoured of the camp commandant's wife. The story is conveyed by thre ...

in chapter III ("Grey Snow"), the protagonist Angelus Thomsen asks a British inmate if he likes Senior Service cigarettes.

References

{{Reflist Gallaher Group brands Japan Tobacco brands British brands Products introduced in 1925

History

Packaging

In popular culture

See also

References