** SNUFF SPECIAL **



The Grand Buffet show Monday night really got me interested in snuff. Nobody I've talked to seems to know anything about this mystery smokeless tobacco. After a few G-queries I was able to turn up Nasal Tobacco Snuff: What it is, Where to get it, How to take it, which gives the following description: Snuff is any powder prepared for sniffing. Of course, the main use of the term is for powdered tobacco. Tobacco snuff is made by selecting tobacco leaf (and also sometimes tobacco stalk, as in e.g. Irish High Dry Toast) and disintegrating it into a coarse powder.... The coarser, moister snuffs are the least "sneezy" and hence best for the beginner (though often favourites of the seasoned snuff taker). They were the most popular - and cheapest - locally milled snuffs in Britain in the 18th & 19th centuries, called "rappee" (as opposed to "Scotch" = fine-milled snuffs.) But who actually uses snuff? Well, nobody today, but it sure was the shit in the time of Dickens! The above site notes that the United States Senate chamber still keeps snuff boxes filled. The habit of snuff-taking in the Senate chamber is as old as the Senate. For those today or in the future who would cast a jaundiced eye at the use of snuff, we might pause to be reminded that, during the first half of the nineteenth century, most members of this body carried their own boxes of finely ground tobacco, and some even kept two boxes on their persons, one containing a mixture for personal use and another, usually a milder type, which was offered to friends. Washington’s leading presidential hostess, Dolley Madison, is reported to have carried as many as three snuffboxes at White House receptions. I'm going to buy some tonight. (If I get hooked I can always use a snuff bullet)  ¶ Permalink 4/02/2003 05:34:00 PM