61 replies to this topic

[Byron]

It is mentioned in one of the novels that James Bond smokes some cigarettes specially made for him by Morland's of Grosvenor Street.

Did Morland's actually exist? Is it still around today? Were they tobacconists?

[Skudor]

Found nothing on Google... but this is amusing here

The only Morland's in London, according to the Yellow Pages, are financial advisers and a landscaping company.

Edited by Skudor, 11 May 2005 - 12:02 PM.

[Dunph]

I seem to remember a few of us went looking for Morland's on Grosvenor Street when Bryce and Matt were over here. We found nothing unfortunately.

[wattenscheid09]

A fsat search showed this entry from commanders.com, which seems to indicate the Grosvenor shop has closed down:

http://www.commander...ages/smokes.htm

[spynovelfan]

I'm pretty sure it existed - Fleming used those brands to add reality to the fantasy figure, so it wouldn't make sense to have invented the brand - but I don't think it exists anymore. I have a couple of London guidebooks from 1968 and 1969, Len Deighton and Kate Simon's, and I don't think it's in either (though I'll check that when I get home, if I remember). Might be an interesting story - I imagine they would have had lots of people wanting the Morland Specials after the first few books. I certainly think there's a book to be done about the brands of Fleming: some have disappeared, others have remained the same, others still have become huge. You could have a page or a couple of pages on each: how Rolex was seen before and after Bond; the whole Dunhill saga; a history of Ronson lighters; Players vs Morlands in the books; and so on. Well, I'd buy it.

[Skudor]

I agree that it must have existed - as Spynovelfan says Fleming used real brands in the books.

I did an online search at Companies House (company register) for current or previous Morland's. There are plenty, but most with additional names that indicate other lines of business. Doubt their online records go far enough back in time. Of course, just because the shop was called Morland's doesn't mean the legal name of the company was.

I hope someone has something conclusive on this.

Edited by Skudor, 11 May 2005 - 12:37 PM.

[spynovelfan]

A thread on this subject over at usenet is here. So Morland's was defunct by FOR SPECIAL SERVICES at least, it would appear.

Another post on usenet, from 1998:

'Morlands was a real shop but closed down some twenty five years ago. I've been told on good authority that the closest cigarette in flavour to the Three Gold Rings is thew French smoke GITANES. I smoke forty of them a day and they certainly haven't done me any harm.'

Apparently, Adrian Turner's book on GOLDFINGER has an entry on Morland's. Does anyone have the book?

A provisional list of some of the brands that appear in Fleming's novels:

Anderson & Sheppard
Beluga caviar
Bentley
Beretta
Campari
Cartier
Cinzano
Dom Perignon
Floris
Geo F Trumper
Givenchy
Gordon

[wattenscheid09]

I smoke forty of them a day and they certainly haven't done me any harm.'

Ho ho. I smoked one of them, and they are PRETTY strong. But so was Bond, I suppose.

[Trident]

The Morelands are not mentioned so often, I seem to remember. When Bond is abroad he usually smokes a local brand or Chesterfields (he hoked me on them for some ten years before I quit finally). I believe once there are Senior Service mentioned (TSWLM).

Gardner then changed the brand to H. Simmons (due to Morelands having shut down) and only mentioned smoking until No Deals (thaugh Bond didn't light up, only asked for light in this one). In Cold Bond buys a pack of cigarettes after learning, a close girlfriend of his has died during a bomb attack on a plane (can't find the exact line now, but I'm sure) but the brand is not mentioned.

The next thing I remember about Bonds smoking habits is Benson mentioning H: Simmons has folded down too. But I can't remember the new brand Bond was smoking in his books (if it is mentioned at all).

[Byron]

A provisional list of some of the brands that appear in Fleming's novels:

Anderson & Sheppard
Beluga caviar
Bentley
Beretta
Campari
Cartier
Cinzano
Dom Perignon
Floris
Geo F Trumper
Givenchy
Gordon

[spynovelfan]

I think these were the type of cigarettes Fleming got made for him personally.

Yes, I've seen that mentioned in several places. Of course, most of the brands Fleming had Bond or other characters make use of in the novels were ones he personally favoured or used.

[Skudor]

Thanks for that - great stuff!

[spynovelfan]

Brilliant. Hilarious that the cigarettes weren't always very good. I think it would be fantastic to have a Bond adventure in which the villain took the piss out of Bond's Morland's. Or perhaps the girl could do it: "They only last a minute, James? I hope that's not symptomatic!" You could also do something with them 'burning like an explosive fuse', surely. Anyway, I think that's a lovely detail (as are many of the others in that piece), because it says something about Fleming's snobbery. You'd expect all the brands he has Bond use to be absolutely beyoind reproach. Something curiously refreshing that it was a bit hit and miss - shocking, too, that Fleming's taste might be criticised.

Thanks for typing it up, SILHOUETTEMAN.

[spynovelfan]

Yes, I've read the PLAYBOY interview (several times) and love that Fleming was such a self-aware writer. He knew he wasn't Graham Greene - and wasn't trying to be (which is partly why I don't think he'd have been nearly as bothered by the le Carr

[Loomis]

However, despite their claims to the contrary, the cigarettes were variable in quality. Some were perfect, others poorly filled and some seemed to have less leaf than stalk, which meant they burned like an explosive fuse and lasted less than a minute. The blend of Balkan and Turkish tobacco was also annoyingly inconsistent; they could be strong or weak, bitter or deliciously sweet, with hints of cedarwood, dark chocolate, vanilla or unadulterated tar.

How odd. Sounds not much different to counterfeit Marlboros sold on the streets of China. Sometimes fine, sometimes diabolical. I'd have thought people would have pretty quickly stopped going to Morlands and paying a fortune for their expensive fags if they'd been so ridiculously hit and miss in quality.

[Skudor]

Never underestimate the power of snobbery Loomis!

And remember, Morland's isn't around anymore.

[spynovelfan]

How odd. Sounds not much different to counterfeit Marlboros sold on the streets of China. Sometimes fine, sometimes diabolical. I'd have thought people would have pretty quickly stopped going to Morlands and paying a fortune for their expensive fags if they'd been so ridiculously hit and miss in quality.

Well, they did close down! And might have done sooner, had it not been for Fleming's endorsement of them.

[Byron]

[quote name='SILHOUETTE MAN' date='20 May 2005 - 09:38']
Glad you enjoyed the excerpt. If I'd had more time there were more details about Morlands, but I felt those were most relevant to the question asked in the thread. I agree that it is amusing that something Fleming put in his novels was not always of top-notch quality. I think perhaps his snobbery is sometimes overplayed and a look at the quality of some of the brands might show this.



Since i started this thread i also wanted to say a big thank you for your excellent post. This ahs answered my queries better than i could have ever imagined!

[Leon]

Some fantastic information here. I believe Turkish Diplomats have dissapeared since that book was written, obviousely. There are no traditional, aromatic Turkish blend cigarettes on the market today, not even in Turkey due to the British/American monopoly on the Turkish tobacco industry.

There are one or two US based tobacco companies who sell specıalıst Turkish blend tobacco for roll your own/make your own cigarettes. I have heard that some specıalıst tobacco companies, such as these, are doing their best to try and get some cigarette companies to make a traditional Turkish cigarette. There are some manufactured cigarettes which claim to be Turkish, such as Camel Turkish and Tor Turkish, however these contain none of the real Izmir and other aromatic tobaccos, and are highly inferior and very dry and bland smokes.

I plan to get some of the Turkish blend and other tobacco from a company in the States next time I am over there with some of their best tubes and blend my own Turkish Specials. That is the only way you can enjoy the real taste and ambiance of the old Turks today.

Like someone else who posted I am a fan of Gitanes and Gauloises Disque Bleu, however these strong, robust French cigarettes are nothing like the old aromatic Turkish blends, quite different indeed.

I believe the Moreland Specials would have been more like a slightly stronger and rougher Turkish Special with the Balkan tobacco in the blend, an almost full flavoured, piquant and sweet smoke, the likes of which can't be found today (save for some rare make your own tobaccos). The french cigarettes are a strong, rough and earthy smoke, smell like cigars...I love em!

[doublenoughtspy]

The information about the gold rings is interesting because some sources claim Fleming had the gold rings added to his to signify his rank as Commander.

Good to know that rumor is false.

[mccartney007]

The information about the gold rings is interesting because some sources claim Fleming had the gold rings added to his to signify his rank as Commander.

Good to know that rumor is false.

Interesting. I don't believe I've ever heard that rumour before? Where has it been said before?

[AMWebby]

I've always thought the Morlands cigarettes must taste not dissimilar to the Balkan Sobranies I used to purchase in the Burlington Arcade.

[Bondian]

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but didn't James Bond also smoke 'Chesterfield's' in the novel Live And Let Die?.

[Byron]

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but didn't James Bond also smoke 'Chesterfield's' in the novel Live And Let Die?.

I think so and he also bought a packet of Chesterfields in the novel Thunderball.

[Bondian]

I think so and he also bought a packet of Chesterfields in the novel Thunderball.

Cool. Thank you for that information Byron.

I must really start reading the rest of the novels.

[Leon]

Morlands were a blend of Balkan and Turkish, the old fashioned aromatic Turkish tobacco was truly unique, you can't get it these days save for a couple of US make-your-own tobacco specıalısts. Sobranie was not like the Turkish tobacco but the old Sobranie blend will have been similar to what they used in the Morland Special blend, but you need real Turkish tobacco to blend with it. The proper Izmir blend Turkish was really sweet and aromatic, trully delicious.

I am getting some from D&R Tobacco in the states with some nice tubes to make my own Turkish Specials

[Miro-d Kyro]

Just to let anyone know that is interested in a "Morland and Co" Cigarette case, I have a empty one for sale on eBay at the moment:-

http://cgi.ebay.com/.....AMESE:IT&rd=1

[Qwerty]

Welcome to CBn, Miro-d Kyro.

[JohnB]

It is mentioned in one of the novels that James Bond smokes some cigarettes specially made for him by Morland's of Grosvenor Street.

Did Morland's actually exist? Is it still around today? Were they tobacconists?

Hello all!

I just joined up, after finding this thread whilst Googling Morland cigarettes, as I used to smoke them in the sixties. I left England shortly after and when I returned in 1980, Morland's had disappeared, like much else of London of that period.

The info provided in this thread just about covers the essential facts. I can add that my memory of the shop was that it was staffed by elderly ladies. It was much like a tuck shop, with shelves of jars, but instead of sweets, they contained varieties of tobacco. A new customer was invited to make a selection and a lady would then make a cigarette to taste.

The tobacco was placed on a shaped piece of plastic-like material, rolled up and inserted into a tube, and then the ends trimmed with scissors. The tubes were pre-printed with the Morland's three gold bands. However, distinguished clients had theirs printed to choice. Examples I saw were family crests and insignia of military rank.

It was common practice for officers posted overseas to order by post - a record was kept of their tobacco mix. This is why, I think, they were packed in boxes (shipping).

Commander Bond was, of course, based partly on the life of his author. Fleming's wartime service in NID surrounded him with officers who smoked and ordered Morland's for shipping overseas.

FYI, I knew Fleming slightly. An uncle of mine was a colleague of his in NID. My uncle's best friend during the 30s was also a good friend of Fleming. An aunt of mine migrated to Jamaica and it was through these connections that Fleming eventually bought Golden Eye.

I hope this hasn't bored you.

Cheers!
John

Edited by JohnB, 17 February 2006 - 11:13 PM.

[ACE]

It hasn't bored me at all, JohnB.

What a fantastic post! It is one of my eternal regrets I never got to make it to Morelands but your anecdote almost makes up for it.

I have long been seeking photographs of this legendary shop.

Can you tell more about your connection with Fleming?

Reminds me of a story of a family friend who is married to a famous British journalist who served 30 AU, Fleming's "Red Indian" commando unit during WWII. After said dinner guest got over the fact some young kid knew what he was talking about, he proceeded to be very disparaging about Mr Fleming in the context of that time.

Everytime I meet said journalist, he always mines a another dry anecdote about Fleming.

Best and thanks for sharing, JohnB.