Prince Albert tobacco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prince Albert is an American brand of tobacco, introduced by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1907.[1] It has been owned since 1987 by John Middleton Inc.[2]

Prince Albert is one of the more popular independent brands of pipe tobacco in the United States; in the 1930s, it was the "second largest money-maker" for Reynolds.[3] More recently, it has also become available in the form of pipe-tobacco cigars. (A 1960s experiment with filtered cigarettes was deemed a failure.[4]) The blend is burley-based and remains one of America's top-selling pipe tobaccos.

The career of Alice Joy began as the "Prince Albert Dream Girl" in radio broadcasts similar to Reynolds's Camel cigarette broadcasts that featured Morton Downey.[3]

Though there have been several Prince Alberts in the monarchies of Europe, Prince Albert tobacco is not named for the best-known Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was husband and Prince Consort to Queen Victoria. Albert and Victoria's eldest son was also known as Prince Albert before he took the throne as Edward VII. The brand of tobacco was introduced after the Prince Consort's death, and the image on the can shows a man with full beard, which the Prince Consort did not wear. Also, the wording on the package was changed somewhat once Prince Albert had become King Edward VII.

[edit] "Prince Albert in a can"

The brand is the basis of a practical joke, usually made in the form of a prank call. The prankster typically calls a store and asks if they have "Prince Albert in a can". When the unsuspecting clerk responds "yes", the caller follows up with, "Well, you'd better let him out!"[5][6]

There are also variants of the joke involving King Edward brand cigars (named for Edward VII) and Martha White brand flour. The prank caller inquires if the store has "King Edward in a box" or "Martha White in a bag".

[edit] Instances in Pop Culture

American animated television series Family Guy made use of the practical joke in the episode "Fifteen Minutes of Shame". Four of the Griffin family members are featured on a talk show while the remaining two, Brian and Stewie, call in asking, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" and allow the joke to play out. It is also referenced in "Weird Al" Yankovic's song entitled "Phony Calls." The 15th episode of the first season of Popular entitled "Booty Camp" opened with a call from Sugardaddy calling Brooke and Sam's help-hotline asking for prince albert in a can. The joke is also used by the clown "Pennywise", in Stephen King's book, "IT".

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Directory of Company Histories. Thomson Gale (2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
  2. ^ Associated Press. "R.J. Reynolds Sells 2 Tobacco Brands", The New York Times, July 7, 1987. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  3. ^ a b "Pipe Dream Girl", TIME magazine, November 23, 1931. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  4. ^ "Where There's Smoke There's a Filter", TIME magazine, November 18, 1966. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  5. ^ Transcript of Interview with Prince Albert of Monacco, CNN Larry King Weekend, September 15, 2002
  6. ^ Penny Candy and Radio in the Good Old Days, By Tony Stein, The Virginian-Pilot, October 23, 1994