# Does Anybody Use Snuff (in 18th Century Fashion) Anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818 "2015-08-25T11:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/41 "2015-08-26T16:24:37Z")
Hi. While we’re on the subject, I need to know something. Q: What’s a ‘Snuff Box’? What do they look like? Do they look like jewelry boxes? Do they look like cigar boxes? All info, including links / pix appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/42 "2015-08-26T16:33:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Apparently there is a niche market for videos showing these people sneezing. I’ve even heard claims that these films are illegal! 😕 > [@cmyk](#): > > These snuff films are very illegal, not to mention those victimized by induced sneezing. :smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/43 "2015-08-26T18:47:19Z")
Snuff is sold today and many use it regularly. I use it sometimes. I can recommend [Viking Dark](http://mysmokingshop.co.uk/index2.php?mod=mancats&nm=The%20Viking%20Snuff&ns=Viking%20Dark&man=451&sec=2245). I have my tin here on my desk. It’s definitely not for sneezing, but because of the nice tobacco taste/smell. When you’ve used it a couple of times, you seldom sneeze. You take a little pinch of in, take it to the nose, draw in a little bit, like if you smell a flower (it is not pleasant to get it high up in the nose), and then – enjoy. The nicotine buzz is _very_ small, comparing to other tobacco products. I recommend it (in moderation, of course, like any tobacco). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/44 "2015-08-27T00:39:06Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > I tried snuff/snus while in Iceland recently. According to [this article](http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/06/03/smoking-down-snuff-and-snus-use) 10% of males aged 18-44 in Iceland use snuff. In my experience, it was definitely being used as a nicotine delivery system. I don’t recall sneezing. Because you’re supposed to put it in your mouth. It’s most popular in Sweden, wikipedia says 12% irrespective of gender, but also probably higher among males. I have only seen nasal snuff once in the wild. I’m not even sure where to buy it: does 7-11 carry it next to the dipping tobacco, snus, and (less common) chewing tobacco? It may be that I don’t know all the brands to know what category a given product is. The person who used it would be the last person I’d expect. It was done before “going out,” and was too dark to be coke, so… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/45 "2015-08-27T02:29:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Older members of the ethnic-Chinese community in Thailand still use it. The wife’s uncle is in his 80s, and he’s let me try some. Sneezing doesn’t seem to be part of it though. > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Hi. While we’re on the subject, I need to know something. > > Q: What’s a ‘Snuff Box’? What do they look like? Do they look like jewelry boxes? Do they look like cigar boxes? All info, including links / pix appreciated. The one I’ve seen the wife’s uncle use is just a little tiny jar, maybe similar to the ones for Tiger Balm only smaller. But I’ve mentione elsewhere that I have a small collection of [Chinese snuff bottles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_bottle). They’re really neat. Some have little cocaine-spoon-type utensils stuck to the stopper. These bottles can be quite pricey, but there’s this one one I actually bought for the wife. Paid the equivalent of US$5 at a market in Beijing, and using some sort of inscriber the seller wrote her name on the inside, meaning he had to write backwards, and in English to boot! Again, sneezing does not seem to be part of the snuff culture among the older Chinese community here. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/46 "2015-08-27T06:08:16Z")
Tibetans and Himalayan hill people take snuff in this method today. Tibetan Buddhist monks do this a lot. It certainly wasn’t about sneezing in my experience. They definitely took some kind of a “hit” off of the snuff ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/47 "2015-08-27T13:12:18Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > You must have read Woodson’s history of the sneezarium. Most current scholars consider him kind of hack. One of the main downfalls of the sneezariums was, of course, the spread of tuberculosis, along with members of high society being afflicted with cancer of the face. > [@lost4life](#): > > Are you stalking me? How many threads are you going to pop into just to defend Woodson? Read some Carmichael and get back to me. I’m not sure if Woodson fumbled more in academia or on the field. > [@cmyk](#): > > Listen, I don’t have the time to get into a debate/cite war over this, and I certainly take their research over the matter with a grain of salt. But surely you can’t deny the eyewitness accounts of the time by Hodgeson, Greye or even Vanderbilt? cmyk: Your misogyny is showing, and Lost4, you are not much better. :mad: FYI, Laci Carmichael _IS_ Michael Woodson. She transitioned in the mid 90’s but has been living as a woman since at least '88. She married Deborah Carmichael in San Francisco in 2004, only to have their marriage anulled by the State during the marriage equality battle. They married again soon after the CA State Supreme Court decision of 2008. The two of you sound ridiculous arguing the scientific merit of the products of the same body of work. But then perhaps that’s not the body by which you are judging . . . :smack: ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/48 "2015-08-27T13:32:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Because you’re supposed to put it in your mouth. It’s most popular in Sweden, wikipedia says 12% irrespective of gender, but also probably higher among males. > > I have only seen nasal snuff once in the wild. I’m not even sure where to buy it: does 7-11 carry it next to the dipping tobacco, snus, and (less common) chewing tobacco? It may be that I don’t know all the brands to know what category a given product is. > The person who used it would be the last person I’d expect. It was done before “going out,” and was too dark to be coke, so… Here in Virginia, every convenience store carries, at a minimum, American moist snuff (i.e. “dip”, e.g. Copenhagen, Skoal), and chewing tobacco (e.g. Red Man). A few, including the one closest to me, now offer the “General” brand of Swedish snus. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/49 "2015-08-27T13:43:04Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Keen smokers unwilling to leave the confines of their parlours had a form of semaphore which, when a small lever was pulled, raise a signal flag on the roof to let the tobacconist know that more supplies were needed. I will not buy this tobacconist, it is scratched. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/50 "2015-08-27T14:01:14Z")
My nipples EXPLODE with delight! [achoo!] ---
**Author:** ![quimper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7c8e57/32.png) [@quimper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quimper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/51 "2015-08-27T14:22:55Z")
Like any human activity, snuff-taking has a [world championship](https://www.reddit.com/r/theocho/comments/3hg1c4/18th_snuff_tobacco_world_championchips_2012_in/) (Youtube video is at the top of the page) ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/52 "2015-08-27T15:25:52Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Because you’re supposed to put it in your mouth. It’s most popular in Sweden, wikipedia says 12% irrespective of gender, but also probably higher among males. > > I have only seen nasal snuff once in the wild. I’m not even sure where to buy it: does 7-11 carry it next to the dipping tobacco, snus, and (less common) chewing tobacco? It may be that I don’t know all the brands to know what category a given product is. > The person who used it would be the last person I’d expect. It was done before “going out,” and was too dark to be coke, so… The stuff I had in Iceland was definitely meant to be snorted. From the article: > [@](#): > > Others utilize ‘neftóbak,’ a type of ground tobacco similar to snuff, both of which are traditionally snorted rather than placed under the lip, for the same purpose. I assume that is what I had. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/53 "2015-08-27T15:34:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You’ll be glad to know that [they still keep snuff in the US Senate.](http://www.senate.gov/vtour/snufb.htm) And there’s a snuff box at the entrance to the Commons in the Houses of Parliament. The principal doorkeeper pays for the snuff out of his own pocket. He’s quoted in [this BBC article](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24713932): > [@](#): > > “It may come as a surprise to some people, as it does to some MPs, that I pay for the snuff,” he said. > > "A member may perhaps feel the need for a mild stimulant before he enters the chamber, or perhaps when he’s leaving the chamber if he’s had an unfortunate experience in there. > > "But it’s not a serious drain on my emoluments, because when I took over the job, my predecessor left me with a nice supply of snuff and I haven’t had to replenish it yet. > > “In due course, I suspect, perhaps next year, I might have to tootle off to a snuff shop, and purchase some.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/54 "2015-08-27T18:04:42Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > The stuff I had in Iceland was definitely meant to be snorted. > > From the article: > I assume that is what I had. D’oh, read the article and still missed the key word in that paragraph. Although the words are etymologically equivalent, snus should mean oral in English at least. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/55 "2015-08-28T12:55:27Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > “In due course, I suspect, perhaps next year, I might have to tootle off to a snuff shop, and purchase some.” I used to dip (not snort) snuff. I was a chain dipper, with a pinch in at all times except when sleeping or eating. I quit after about 25 years and don’t ever plan to start again, but danged if “tootling off to the snuff shop” doesn’t sound like the coolest thing ever! ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818/56 "2015-08-29T02:33:53Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Hi. While we’re on the subject, I need to know something. > > Q: What’s a ‘Snuff Box’? What do they look like? Do they look like jewelry boxes? Do they look like cigar boxes? All info, including links / pix appreciated. Not to belabor the obvious, but a snuff box is, well, [a box that holds snuff.](http://http://image0-rubylane.s3.amazonaws.com/shops/antiqueworldusa/212-0120E.1L.jpg) In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when snuff use was common, men carried it in small boxes. They could be [quite ornate](http://cdn0.rubylane.com/shops/antiqueworldusa/212-0125C.1L.jpg), and in some circles were _de rigueur_ for the well-dressed man. More pics here: [http://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/photosnew/dealer\_vintagesea/dealer\_vintagesea\_full\_1351018347461-4064843878.jpg](http://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/photosnew/dealer_vintagesea/dealer_vintagesea_full_1351018347461-4064843878.jpg) [https://londonparticulars.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/snuff-box.jpg](https://londonparticulars.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/snuff-box.jpg) [![](https://mfordcreech.com/images/Early_18th_Century_Silver_&_Agate_Snuff_Box_c1720_1_735w.jpg) ](https://mfordcreech.com/images/Early_18th_Century_Silver_&_Agate_Snuff_Box_c1720_1_735w.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-use-snuff-in-18th-century-fashion-anymore/728818.md?page=2)