Prince Albert in a Can
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Prince Albert in a Can is a practical joke, usually made in the form of a prank call. The humor of the joke hinges on a double entendre on the name of Prince Albert brand pipe tobacco sold by John Middleton, Inc.
The teller of the joke usually calls a store and asks if they carry "Prince Albert in a can". When the unsuspecting clerk responds "yes", the caller follows up with "Well, you'd better let him out!"
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".
Perhaps with the help of this humorous publicity, Prince Albert is one of the more popular independent brands of pipe tobacco in the United States. More recently, it has also become available in the form of pipe-tobacco cigars. The blend is burley-based and remains one of America's top-selling pipe tobaccos.
Though there have been several Princes Albert 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.
