William Wallace Smith II was born in Poughkeepsie N.Y. In 1963 the brand was purchased by Warner-Lambert. It was bought by F & F Foods of Chicago, Illinois, in 1972 and production left Poughkeepsie. The iconic Smith Brothers logo was diminished in favor of the F&F Foods logo and the brothers' name recognition declined, though they would continue to make appearances in pop culture references such as the season 1, 1986 of "Golden Girls" episode, "The Flu” Rose politely declines a Sucrets cough drop from her date, and tells him that she’s “sucking on a Smith Brothers” And later on the 2009 "Simpsons" episode, "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" The expression, "When the Smith Brothers shave..." was used in popular culture to mean something that was never expected to happen. In the 1906 Victor Herbert operetta "The Red Mill", two heavily bearded men appear on stage, while one of the Vaudevillians yells, "Pipe the Smith Brothers!" In 2011, the brand was sold to GemCap, a private equity fund in Santa Monica, California. In 2014 the brand was purchased by hedge fund York Capital Management, who once again attempted to revive the brand which had largely disappeared from store shelves. However, in 2016, the Smith brothers cough drop brand folded due to declining sales. Smith Brothers Cough Drops remained available on some retail shelves and online sources, due to previously purchased unexpired back stock. In May 2016, the Smith Brothers brand was acquired by Lanes Brands in Bedford, New Hampshire, the United States subsidiary of Lanes Health in Gloucester, United Kingdom. According to the Lane Brands website, the Smith Brothers brand of cough drops returned to the American and worldwide markets later in 2017. According to the homepage of the company website, the cough drop flavors Honey Lemon, Wild Cherry and Warm Apple Pie cough drop flavors are currently being offered again in the form of packets filled with sealed drops, with the flavors Black Licorice, Menthol Eucalyptus, and small boxes of cough drops not yet available.