Man of Few Words

Everyone knows Chesterfields, thanks to $8,000,000 a year spent on such slogans as "They Satisfy" and "ABC--Always Buy Chesterfield." But outsiders know little about the men at Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. who make Chesterfields. In the closemouthed cigarette business, L. & M. is the tightest-lipped of all. Last week L. & M. got a new president who seemed just the right man for the job. He is Benjamin F. Few, 56, who has been vice president in charge of L. & M.'s advertising since 1934 and has managed to keep clam quiet all the time. He intends to stay that way. Few replaces J. W. Andrews, who is stepping down at the retirement age of 65.

A South Carolinian, Few went straight to Liggett & Myers after graduating from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1916, worked his way up through the cigarette factory into tobacco buying and sales, and ran L. & M.'s Philippine Islands operations for ten years before the war. His biggest job as president will be to pep up Chesterfield's sales. Last year Chesterfield sales dropped slightly from $67.5 million in 1949 to $66 million. With 18% of the cigarette market, v. 22.6% for Lucky Strike and 26.9% for Camel, Chesterfield is third in the industry.

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