Snuff, Snuff Boxes & Politics

Taken from Tobacco Talk & Smokers Gossip, which has numerous snuff related anecdotes. Snuff, snuff boxes and politics relates how no politician should be without a snuff box, as snuff taking ’buys them time’ when answering a difficult question!

Talleyrand was a snuff-taker, not from devotion to the habit, but on principle. The wily politician used to say (and doubtless Metternich, who was a confirmed snuff-taker, would have agreed with him.) that all diplomatists ought to take snuff, as it afforded a pretext for delaying a reply with which one might not be ready; it sanctioned the removal of one’s eyes from those of the questioner; occupied one’s hands which might else convict one of nervous fidget; and the action partly concealed that feature which is least easily schooled into hiding or belying human feelings - the mouth. If its workings were visible through the fingers, those twitches might be attributed to the agreeable irritation going on above.

So there you have it, if you’re struggling for a reply to a difficult question; take a leaf out of Talleyrand’s book and reach for your snuff box, take a large pinch and think!

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A Pinch Of Snuff is a story attributed to Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov.

Snuff and snuff taking is mentioned in several other Jewish stories and teachings, more will follow shortly.

A PINCH OF SNUFF

And then there was the time that a poor man named Reb Shmuel came with a group of beggars to collect charity at the shule of the Baal Shem Tov. The shammos (caretaker) of the shule gave each beggar a few coins but the poor man declined.

“No, thank you,” said Reb Shmuel, “I want to speak to the Baal Shem Tov.”

“Let me ask the Rebbe,” said the shammos. The shammos returned and offered the poor man a larger sum of money.

Reb Shmuel responded, “No, thank you, I only want to meet with the Baal Shem Tov.”

After the shammos related what happened, Reb Shmuel was invited in to meet with the Baal Shem Tov.

“So,” said the Baal Shem Tov, closely studying the poor man, “you are not satisfied with my donation?”

“Rebbe,” responded Reb Shmuel, “I don’t want a donation. I’m not a beggar, just a poor man that is down on his luck. I used to be a very rich man and was known as a baal tzedeka (philanthropist) that often helped people get started again if they had a business setback. Every Shabbos and Yom Tov my table was surrounded by poor people and wanderers. I had a large, successful business. Then one day, everything changed. I lost all my wealth and finally had to resort to living as a wandering beggar. Rebbe, why did I lose my wealth and position so suddenly?”

The Baal Shem Tov thought for a while and said, “My dear friend, it’s just a pinch of snuff.” (In those days, sharing a pinch of snuff was common and considered to be of little financial consequence, like a mint today.)

“What do you mean, Rebbe?” said the poor man. “It’s not just a pinch of snuff. It’s my whole livelihood that’s gone. Can’t you see, I’m walking around in rags and I have holes in my boots.”

“You don’t understand,” answered the Baal Shem Tov, “I mean your loss of wealth was caused by a pinch of snuff. Do you remember one Shabbos when you were sitting at your table surrounded by many guests and you took a pinch of snuff from your special jeweled, silver snuff box and then suddenly closed the snuff box?”

The poor man started to remember that fateful day as a clear vision of the incident flooded his memory. “Oh my G.d,” said the poor man to the Baal Shem Tov, “there was a poor wanderer sitting next to me. When he reached over to take a pinch of snuff from my special jeweled, silver snuff box, I closed it and said, ‘What’s wrong, isn’t that other snuff box I put on the table for my guests good enough for you to use?’ That poor wanderer turned red with embarrassment and didn’t say another word.”

“That’s exactly what I’m speaking of,” said the Baal Shem Tov. “That man had also been a rich man that was down on his fortune. He had been planning to ask you for a loan to get back on his feet. But, he was so embarrassed by what you did that he just left without speaking to you. And just at that moment,” continued the Baal Shem Tov, “it was decreed in Heaven that you would change places with him. Your fortune would go to him and you would have to beg from door to door as he had.”

“Oh Rebbe, now I remember so clearly, moaned the poor man. From that day, all my business ventures failed and I lost everything until I reached the state that I’m in, having to wander and beg. Oh, what I wouldn’t do to take back that thoughtless act. Rebbe, is there anything I can do to change my situation?”

The Baal Shem Tov closed his eyes and thought. After a long pause he said, “Well, if you were to approach that beggar turned rich man and ask him for a pinch of snuff and he would refuse you, then your fortunes would again be reversed.”

The poor man immediately left and started to wander looking for that man with whom he had changed places. After many months, he came to a town that was buzzing with preparations being made for a big wedding. He learned that the bride was the daughter of a very rich man. A huge banquet was planned for the wedding and everyone in the town was invited. The poor man went to shule to catch a glimpse of the rich man. At first he didn’t recognize him because of his fancy clothes and new stature. But, finally the poor man realized, “Oh my G.d, that’s him!”

The poor man began to plot a plan as to when to confront the rich man and ask him for a pinch of snuff. He decided to wait until just the right time, the night of the wedding.

At last, the night of the wedding arrived. It was a huge celebration as only such a rich man could afford. After the wedding ceremony, everyone was in the banquet hall eating and drinking and dancing. And right in the middle of the party, the rich man was dancing surrounded by his friends and well wishers. Just at that moment, the poor man broke through the crowd and approached the rich man.

“Excuse me,” he said to the exuberant rich man, “could I please bother you for a pinch of snuff?”

The rich man, immediately broke away from the other dancer’s and took out his jeweled, silver snuff box and offered the poor man a pinch of snuff. The poor man fell down in a swoon. Everyone started to run over to see what happened. The rich man told them, “Move back, give him air!” Then he said to the poor man with great concern in his voice, “What’s wrong? Do want a drink? What can I do for you?”

The poor man started to cry. “Why did you give me the snuff? If you had just refused, I’d be rich again,” continued the poor man. Then he told the rich man the whole story of how they changed places.

“Oh yes, I remember that day. And it is true, from that day on, everything I touched turned to gold. I became richer and richer. It almost seemed to be heaven sent. In some way you are my benefactor and I’m not going to let you suffer any more. Your wandering days are over. I have a great idea. Why don’t you join me in the business? There’s much more than I can handle by myself. You can move your family to this town and we can work together.”

And so it was.

Freely adapted from a story in NOTZER CHESED as translated in STORIES OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV by Y.Y. Klapholtz.

Rabbi Gershon S. Caudill

As for me, I vow to continue to offer a pinch of snuff to anyone who asks!

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Silver Snuff Box

Snuff Store has been on the lookout for a ‘quality’ silver snuff box supplier for several months. We now think that we’ve found a suitable silver manufacturer, who has a history of producing fine silver snuff boxes.

As of 25th March the below are available, click Silver Snuff Boxes for more details.

We’re in the process of deciding which snuff boxes to stock and at what price to list them on site. There are about 15 to choose from and we’ve narrowed these down to three as fully described below. In fact, the viability of this silver snuff box quest will eventually be determined by our Snuff Store customers.

Please see below images of silver snuff boxes that we feel are suitable and please either contact us via details on this page, or leave a comment on this post about whether you feel the snuff boxes are suitable; what price you would expect to see them listed at, and finally if we listed them on site would you be interested in purchasing them?

If the snuff box suitability questions come back positive and the prices that you think they should be marked at are within the reach of Snuff Store, we will stock these items. If not, we shall carry on looking!

Round Silver Snuff Box

The round silver snuff box. This snuff box reminds me of the Ozona Raspberry Snuff  dispenser. It is .925 Sterling Silver and has various hallmarks; size-wise, it’s 3.8cm diameter x 1 cm deep and weighs 24 grams.

Silver Snuff Box Rectangle

This silver snuff box has an embossed pattern style on the lid. It is .925 Sterling Silver and has various hallmarks; size-wise, it’s 6.2 x 3.4 x 1.5 cms and weighs 34 grams. This unlike several of the other boxes out there is actually described by the manufacturer as a ’snuff box’ - not a pill box. For snuffers, it’s unusual to find something actually manufactured in silver specifically for snuff storage these days.

Plain Silver Snuff Box Rectangle 

The plain silver rectangle snuff box is similar in dimensions to the embossed snuff box. It is .925 Sterling Silver and has various hallmarks; size-wise, it’s 6.2 x 3.4 x 1.5 cms and weighs 34 grams. Like the embossed version above, (and unlike several of the other silver boxes out there) it is actually described by the manufacturer as a ’snuff box’ - not a pill box.

So there we have it, what we need from you is an indication as to whether silver snuff boxes like the above would be of interest to you and what you would consider a suitable price for the three silver snuff box offerings above. If the general consensus is ‘yes’ to interested and the price suggested is workable, we’ll stock them.

Silver Snuff Box

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Hi All,

This week there’s news on Samuel Gawith and Snuff Specials - to name just a two. Scroll down to see all this week’s news.

Samuel Gawith Snuff
All blends have now been reduced in price.

Snuff Specials
We’ve added to the ’specials’ list again this week - there are now nearly two pages of stock on special prices!

Snuff Spoon & Bottle
We’ve bulk ordered the snuff spoon and bottle, the price has been reduced by 50p to reflect and pass on the savings made due to this bulk order.

Hedges Snuff
Hedges snuff now re-stocked - for those of you waiting for it!

J & H Wilson Snuff
J & H Wilson snuff has been popular this week. We’re waiting on a new delivery - it’s expected Friday 7th March. We’ve still got a few of each in stock. The surprise J & H Wilson blend this week for us has been No.1 Top Mill - most definitely it was worth the effort sourcing this ‘difficult to get hold of’ blend!

Snuff Accessories
We’re down to our last two Pewter Penmon snuff boxes. When these are gone, we won’t be able to stock for the forseeable the future. The guy who adds the pewter top and bottom has had trouble sourcing the boxes. We will of course endeavour to help him out!

Snuff Handkerchiefs - there’s been a run (no pun intended!) on these this last few weeks. We have a full inventory, but are running short of a few of the Thompson Tartan styles. We’re expecting a delivery in the next few days.

All the others…
We’ve got deliveries due in the next few days for all our main snuff brands / blends. If there’s something you want that we don’t currently stock, drop us a email and we’ll do our best to source it for you.

That’s it for this week

Kind Regards

Julia & Tim

Snuff Store

To change your newsletter settings, login to Snuff Store and click the ‘my account’ button and then scroll down the newsletter settings option.

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Snuff Tobacco story, is a joke that’s posted on several websites, so it’s difficult to attribute the snuff story to any one site. I do however like the entry on The Shooter’s Pub website, who claim the snuff tobacco joke is originally theirs - who am I to argue..?!

What needs to be accepted when reading this snuff joke / story, is that in times past, very often pubs would leave snuff out on the bar for customers to use. This practice has long since gone out of fashion - probably due to legal reasons. Anyhow, below is the snuff joke - visit The Shooter’s Pub for more.

One fine summer’s evening, the landlord, George, was pottering about getting ready to open up, when he noticed that the snuff box was empty. He went to fill it from his stock cupboard, and remembered that he’d run out the week before and forgotten to re-stock. Just another tribulation in the life of a landlord. He knew what this would lead to: shouts of “Idle Bastard” from the regulars, even the ones that didn’t take snuff. The fact that generations of regulars from 1660 to the present day called the landlord an idle bastard was no consolation. Wearily, he dragged out his old broom to sweep the outside of the pub, something he hadn’t had time to do for weeks.

While sweeping outside, the broom knocked against a dried-up dog turd, which crumbled on impact. He had a brilliant idea. It would be a quiet night, probably no snuff takers, the pot only had to look full. He took the turd inside, ground it up, and filled the snuff box.

Sod’s Law decreed that the first customer was Harry – an habitual snuff taker. “Pint please, George,” he shouted, and took a pinch of snuff. George put the pint in front of Harry, waiting for the explosion. “Bloody Hell,” says Harry, “has thee had a dog in here? There’s a bloody strong smell of dog shit.” He checked his boots and looked around him. George denied there was any smell of course, and Harry eventually started supping his pint.

Next in was Arthur. “Evening Harry, pint please George”, and helped himself to a pinch of snuff. “By ‘eck, there’s a strong smell of dog shit around here.” “Aye,” said Harry, “Aa thowt that.” So they both started checking out the well-scrubbed stone floor. While they were at it, old Tom wandered in. “What’s occurring here?” he asked. The lads told him the score and the three of them carried on looking, although Tom kept telling them he couldn’t smell owt odd.

Eventually they gave up the search. Tom asked George for a pint and took a pinch of snuff, “Hell fire,” he cried, “yon’s bloody good snuff George, I can fair smell that dog shit now!”

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A Pinch Of Snuff

Oh Snuff! our fashionable end and aim!
Strasburgh, Rappee, Dutch, Scotch! whate’er thy name!
Powder celestial! quintessence divine!
New joys entrance my soul, while thou art mine.
Who takes - who takes thee not? Where’er I range
I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the ‘Change.
By thee assisted, Ladies kill the day,
And breathe their scandal freely o’er their tea:
Nor less they prize thy virtues when in bed,
One pinch of thee revives the vapour’d head,
Removes the spleen, removes the qualmish fit,
And gives a brisker turn to female wit,
Warms in the nose, refreshes like the breeze,
Glows in the head, and tickles in the sneeze.
Without it, Tinsel, what would be thy lot?
What, but to strut neglected, and forgot.
What boots it for thee to have dipt thy hands.
In odours wafted from Arabian lands?
Ah! what avails thy scented solitaire,
Thy careless swing, and pertly-tripping air,
The crimson wash, that glows upon they face,
Thy modish hat, and coat that flames with lace!
In vain thy dress, in vain thy trimmings shine,
If the Parisian snuff-box be not thine.
Come to my nose, then, Snuff, nor come alone,
Bring Taste with thee, for taste is all thy own.

A Pinch Of Snuff - A poem published in Smoke Rings & Roundelays by Wilfred Partington.

A Pinch of Snuff was originally published in a book titled The Shrubs of Parnassus in 1760, written by J. Copywell, which was a pseudonym of William Woty.

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