A street in the City of Westminster borough, London, England. It is the main thoroughfare of St. James's district. St. James's Palace, Marlborough House, and a number of private clubs are on Pall Mall. The name derives from the game pall mall or paille maille, which was played in front of the palace in the 17th century.

Known originally as Paille-Maille in French, and later as Pall-Mall in English, the name of this game means "ball and mallet". Like many games dating back in history, the exact origin of this game is difficult to determine. It was mentioned as early as the 13th century in French texts. It perhaps came into its highest popularity in mid-1800s when the rules developed a set course, started being played on manicured lawns, added more wickets and became known as Croquet. Most likely this name came from the Old Norman-French word that meant the crook on a shepard's staff, referring to the original shape of the mallets.

The game of Billiards also evolved during the 15th century from Pall-Mall in Northern Europe (probably France). Play of the game moved indoors to a wooden table with green cloth draped on it to simulate grass, and edges added to keep the balls in play. The balls were shoved rather than struck with wooden sticks called "maces" that looked very similiar to modern hockey sticks with small blades. Originally there was a six-pocket table with a wicket (hoop) for the balls to pass through and a stake used as a target to hit before sending the balls into the pockets. These were removed from use in the 18th century, leaving only the pockets.

The other Pall Mall - the cigarette

The original premium cigarette, Pall Mall was released in 1899 by the Butler & Butler Company. In an effort to attract users, Pall Mall became the first cigarette to appear in a 85mm format.

Sales rapidly expanded, helped with marketing slogans such as Fine tobacco is its own best filter combined with the further innovation of establishing the first 100mm cigarette. Pall Mall became the best selling cigarette in the US in 1960

The good times would not last however, and in 1966 Winston overtook Pall Mall as the best selling cigarette.

By this stage, Pall Mall was now distributed in the US by R.J. Reynolds and internationally by British American Tobacco.

In the late 90s Pall Mall released a filtered version of their cigarette.

Pall Mall continues to play a large part in both RJ Reynolds and British American Tobacco marketing and distribution plans - being positioned as a drive brand in both companies.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pall_Mall_(cigarette)

http://www.bat.com/

http://www.rjrt.com.

http://advertising.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?start=0&span=10&sort=B&op=AND&match=LIKE&product=PALL+MALL

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