Snuff

[Celeb Obsessed]

Today in history class, we were talking about trade between England, the colonies, and West India, and then the teacher said that tobacco was used to make snuff. Ladies and gentlemen from high society would grind up tobacco, put it into their handkerchief, stick the handkerchief up their nose, sneeze, and then wipe their nose and go about their business. Everybody in the class was like WTF? but I was sitting there, barely able to hold in my giggles. I wouldn't mind living in those days!

Why do you think they did that, though? Did they like sneezing and consider it pleasurable or something?

[Sneesee]

Why do you think they did that, though? Did they like sneezing and consider it pleasurable or something?

Oh, definitely! I think they actually did it for two reasons, and anyone can correct me if I'm wrong on this. They enjoyed it, and it also cleared out their noses.

[Alucard]

People inducing in public and being considered socially acceptable? A sneeze fetishists' dream come true!

[Sternuto]

Snuff is still sold in fine tobacc... toabaconist... tubbahh..

fine smoke shops around the world.

[Geist]

Oddly enough, the phrase "nothing to sneeze at" comes from this very act. When aristocratic commentary got boring, one could simply take a pinch of snuff and sneeze into the handkerchief to indicate "boredom" without saying as much. Hence, when it is said that something is "nothing to sneeze at," one should pay attention.

Also, snuff IS tobacco. It's a substance many people enjoy and the effects can probably be felt quickly when taken in through the mucus membranes.

~Aku

[r]

I think it was one of the British Queens in the past loved snuff so much she wrote a poem about her snuffbox and her snuff.

r.

[sneezedeb]

I think it was one of the British Queens in the past loved snuff so much she wrote a poem about her snuffbox and her snuff.

r.

that sounds gr8...but who is dat queen???how do u know about her???

[r]

Although not taken itself from necessarily scolarly work, this exerpt ibelow s consistent with what I have seen in history books.

"Snuff was primarily the province of the aristocrat and the man of fashion, who looked down on the common man and his pipe. It was always particularly popular in court circles. Queen Anne so enjoyed snuff that all her ladies took up the habit. Queen Charlotte, the consort of George III, acquired the name 'snuffy Charlotte' because of her passion for it. Her son, George IV, changed his snuff according to the time of day and had a storage room set aside in each of his palaces. The man in the street was first introduced to the habit after the capture of a Spanish convoy in 1702. Among the booty was a large consignment of snuff, which was given to the sailors as part of their payment. They distributed it around the ports and coastal towns, where it quickly became popular. Mills were established in London, Bristol, Sheffield and Kendal, and soon snuff shops were sprouting up everywhere, with over 400 in London alone"

Queen Ann and all her court of ladies using snuff... (should be made into a movie)

and "snuffy Charlotte."they needed to have included scenes of that into the recent Mad George (George III) movie

will look for the poem "ode to snuff" Queen Charlotte (George III's wife) wrote.

[r]

See link below: Queen "snuffy" Charlote in her youger years as a Princess as depicted on a snuff box that eventually her son (George IV) owned. I think Charlotte owned Royal snuff boxes out the whazoo.

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery...3892&row=10

[Coral]

Some people from scandinavia still use it! Especially in Iceland!

When I went to Iceland with my school, we were very surpriced that none smoked at the parties!

They all got their tobacco through the nose stupid... And they did it all the time!

But anyways!! We were introduced to it by the iceland-folks we lived with. And we were new to it, so a lot of us sneezed many times after using it. But that is a sign of weekness and they all started singing a song, saying that "the one who sneezes must take the tobacco again, but twice"!

This only made those with sensitive noses sneeze even more to great amusement to our hostes.

When we got home to Denmark they had given us a lot of tobacco as a gift, so for the schoolparties someone suddenly takes it up and sends it around. And if someone sneeze (and they DO) we sing the song!

I hope my confusing english makes sence!

[Blah!?]

Snuff is still sold in fine tobacc... toabaconist... tubbahh..

"I will not buy with tobacconist, it is scratched...

That sounds awesome! I would have loved to live in a time period where that is considered acceptable. Unfortunately, that probably means everyone else would expect me to do it too...

On that note, My hovercraft is full of eels...

[count tiszula]

*buys ticket for next flight to Iceland* Actually , that reminds me that an ex-gf of mine recently went there in connection with such a school trip; pause for the implications to sink in.

The Queen Charlotte thing is most intriguing, since it seems to go against Fanny Burney's account of her court [she being the source of much of "The Madness of George III", though strangely not appearing as a character.] She says that sneezing was absolutely forbidden amongst ladies-in-waiting and goes on about having to hold her sneezes in.

By contrast Frederick the Great of Prussia, or was it Brandenburg, took so much snuff that his clothes were soaked in it, and it was unusual for people to hold conversations with him without sneezing; indeed, could he be the only ruler we know of who might have been one of us? Voltaire thought he was gay, but he may have liked male sneezers.

It is the fate of the mature to discover that they lived in historical times, and when I was young snuff was comparatively common in certain circles, a fact I shamelessly used to my advantage. But then Elvis's grandma was a great snufftaker. Snuff was obtainable in almost all UK tobacconists until very recently; Smith's at 75 Charing Cross Road still just about sells it; one wonders if Harry Potter ever uses it, as it must be near the Leaky Cauldron; Stephen Fry has appeared there on tv taking it.

[tFM!]

Some people from scandinavia still use it! Especially in Iceland!

When I went to Iceland with my school, we were very surpriced that none smoked at the parties!

They all got their tobacco through the nose stupid... And they did it all the time!

But anyways!! We were introduced to it by the iceland-folks we lived with. And we were new to it, so a lot of us sneezed many times after using it. But that is a sign of weekness and they all started singing a song, saying that "the one who sneezes must take the tobacco again, but twice"!

This only made those with sensitive noses sneeze even more to great amusement to our hostes.

When we got home to Denmark they had given us a lot of tobacco as a gift, so for the schoolparties someone suddenly takes it up and sends it around. And if someone sneeze (and they DO) we sing the song!

I hope my confusing english makes sence!

Sounds AWESOME. I WILL go to Iceland someday!

[Rhomberg Rabbit]

*buys ticket for next flight to Iceland* Actually , that reminds me that an ex-gf of mine recently went there in connection with such a school trip; pause for the implications to sink in.

The Queen Charlotte thing is most intriguing, since it seems to go against Fanny Burney's account of her court [she being the source of much of "The Madness of George III", though strangely not appearing as a character.] She says that sneezing was absolutely forbidden amongst ladies-in-waiting and goes on about having to hold her sneezes in.

By contrast Frederick the Great of Prussia, or was it Brandenburg, took so much snuff that his clothes were soaked in it, and it was unusual for people to hold conversations with him without sneezing; indeed, could he be the only ruler we know of who might have been one of us? Voltaire thought he was gay, but he may have liked male sneezers.

It is the fate of the mature to discover that they lived in historical times, and when I was young snuff was comparatively common in certain circles, a fact I shamelessly used to my advantage. But then Elvis's grandma was a great snufftaker. Snuff was obtainable in almost all UK tobacconists until very recently; Smith's at 75 Charing Cross Road still just about sells it; one wonders if Harry Potter ever uses it, as it must be near the Leaky Cauldron; Stephen Fry has appeared there on tv taking it.

I'm assuming that this is different from the "just a pinch between your cheek and gums" kind of snuff. Am I correct? Or are they the same thing

[ellwren]

*buys ticket for next flight to Iceland* Actually , that reminds me that an ex-gf of mine recently went there in connection with such a school trip; pause for the implications to sink in.

The Queen Charlotte thing is most intriguing, since it seems to go against Fanny Burney's account of her court [she being the source of much of "The Madness of George III", though strangely not appearing as a character.] She says that sneezing was absolutely forbidden amongst ladies-in-waiting and goes on about having to hold her sneezes in.

By contrast Frederick the Great of Prussia, or was it Brandenburg, took so much snuff that his clothes were soaked in it, and it was unusual for people to hold conversations with him without sneezing; indeed, could he be the only ruler we know of who might have been one of us? Voltaire thought he was gay, but he may have liked male sneezers.

It is the fate of the mature to discover that they lived in historical times, and when I was young snuff was comparatively common in certain circles, a fact I shamelessly used to my advantage. But then Elvis's grandma was a great snufftaker. Snuff was obtainable in almost all UK tobacconists until very recently; Smith's at 75 Charing Cross Road still just about sells it; one wonders if Harry Potter ever uses it, as it must be near the Leaky Cauldron; Stephen Fry has appeared there on tv taking it.

I'm assuming that this is different from the "just a pinch between your cheek and gums" kind of snuff. Am I correct? Or are they the same thing

What you're thinking of is American 'moist' snuff. Dry snuff, the variety that is sniffed into the nose, is not very common in the States.

Oh, and if you're interested in seeing this, it's used in lots of period films. The only I can think of off the top of my head is 'Tom Jones.' The scene with the snuff is about two-thirds of the way through the film. (Besides, it's a good film. It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, in 1964.)

[r]

I think the Fanny Burney apparent conflict was due to the idea that the King (George III) did not like snuff taking (although he occasionally humored Charlotte but just to please her). But the Queen and her Lady of the Bed Chamber Mrs. Schwellenberg absolutely loved it. The latter is reported to have used the custom of tapping the snuffbox three times to settle the snuff before taking the pinch as a signal to get her two pet frogs (yes that's right FROGS) to start croaking.

This is related in Clare Le Corbeiller's book European and American Snuff Boxes 1730-1830 (1983).

Possibly more than you ever cared to know about Queenly and courtly snuff taking/sneezing

[Guest shy]

Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but check this out:

"Snuff caused sneezing, and it was outlawed in the middle of the seventeenth century by the pope, who thought sneezing was too similar to sexual ecstasy."

[Guest]

Just shows you how enlightened a seventeenth century pope was .... and hopw long maybe that SF's have been around

Hank

[count tiszula]

I think the Fanny Burney apparent conflict was due to the idea that the King (George III) did not like snuff taking (although he occasionally humored Charlotte but just to please her). But the Queen and her Lady of the Bed Chamber Mrs. Schwellenberg absolutely loved it. The latter is reported to have used the custom of tapping the snuffbox three times to settle the snuff before taking the pinch as a signal to get her two pet frogs (yes that's right FROGS) to start croaking.

This is related in Clare Le Corbeiller's book European and American Snuff Boxes 1730-1830 (1983).

Possibly more than you ever cared to know about Queenly and courtly snuff taking/sneezing

Very fascinating, and I'm only coming back to say that I looked up my source and it claims that Mrs Schwellenberg's pets were TOADS!

[And that Lord Macaulay was horrified by them; of course she may have had both, or Macaulay may have demonised them]

She clearly bullied Burney and perhaps the latter's remarks were as a result of a sneezing while taking snuff experience and being told off therefor.

But while I'm here I saw recently the programme Tribe in which our hero stays with a tribal tribe in Tanzania; to placate them he buys from the Masai a huge pot containing about a pound of snuff; they all take it , including him, but NOTHING HAPPENS. Which reminds me again, did we ever discover a clip of the legendary travel programme in E Africa where the presenter [Chadwick?] buys snuff and DOES sneeze?

[count tiszula]

Thi s is interstring

[crazy_cat_girl]

This is also a female Chekhov character who takes snuff. Masha in The Seagull. She never sneezes tho...at least, it's not written in. It was a way to make her character more 'masculine' and make her seem rebellious. I had to play her in an acting class and it wasn't too difficult to look up how snuff is taken.

Sneezing was so much more popular back in the day! Unfair. :-(

[S_L]

Thi s is interstring

Good work! I missed this first time around.

Here's a couple of links to interesting articles on the BBC website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4942446.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4934156.stm

And there's a video on taking snuff - to the right of the results when searching the bbc site.

http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/res...&go=toolbar