303. VINTAGE PHILIP MORRIS VENDOR'S BOX

We've had this wooden box for years...a 60s merchandising piece for Philip Morris 100s filter cigarettes meant to hold cigarette cartons and carried by ambulant vendors. I don't know how it came to be in the family, but we did have Sarao jeepneys that went on the road with our trusty drivers--maybe this was left inadvertently by one of the cigarette boys. The cigarette boys catered to pedestrians, jeepney passengers and jeepney drivers, hence, the handiness of this box which featured a section for loose change.

Philip Morris Incorporated began in the Philippines around 1955, when it entered into its exclusive licensing agreement with Filipino-owned La Suerte Cigar and Cigarette Factory. Its filter-tipped cigarette became a Philippine favorite. Boxes like these are still made--but the ones I see are either for candies or are of the home-made type, with a covered section for coins that was often shut open-and-close, creating the distinctive attention-getting 'takatak' sound that gave cigarette boys their names--'takatak' boys!