What was it like, how old will you have to be to remember, what was the time frame it was made and any thing else??
Yes, I am a surviving relative of the Soderberg Snuff Co., here in South Bend, IN. They manufactured two types of snuff, the Arrow brand and the Soderberg Chewing Snuff. The plant was in their garage out back, which was coverted over to the snuff factory. They were my great-grandparents and then later my grandparents took over the business
The Soderberg’s came to the US from Sweden in 1880. The snuff factory was started in 1895 and ran until 1960 when my grandfather died an early death. His name was Cliff Soderberg. His parents were August and Anna Soderberg. A little known fact is that it was great-grandmother Anna who started up the snuff factory. You see it was called the A. Soderberg Snuff Co., which lead everyone to believe the old man ran the business as they had the same first name initial. He worked in a local factory and used snuff. She hated the stuff, but decided to start making it because many people of the era used it. Not sure where she got the recipe from, but she got it somewhere from Sweden. I still have both recipes for the snuff.
Her business venture proved a boom as the United States Revenue Dept. brought in a revenue tax collector to South Bend to set up a permanent office. Her snuff factory was one of the few industries of its kind in the United States at the time, let alone Indiana. Run entirely by a woman, the gross annual business in 1914 was $15,000, of which $2,000 had to be paid to the government in taxes. By today’s monetary standards, she was making $330,000 a year in 1914, which was when snuff was in its hayday.
Yes, she wore furs and they traveled the countryside by car. Which was on dirt, bumpy roads. I have photos of them traveling to Florida, Colorado and Calif., and the dirt roads they traversed.
After my grandparents took over the business, I remember my grandmother saying she hated it when the revenue man came. Not sure why, either it was because he took so much of their money in taxes, or because of his inspections, which were similar to what the health department would do. My grandma, who married a Soderberg, said she liked to play bridge and all the bridge clubs here in South Bend used to try and coax her to join their club as the women wanted her to furnish them with snuff. Apparently they could not go out and buy the stuff themselves. Or, they wanted the freebies. She said the ladies would sit around and put a little of the snuff on the back of their hands and snort it, then sneeze. My how times have changed…
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Great story! Thanks for sharing
Lovely story indeed!
Great Story, Perhaps the recipe could be resurrected?
Might be worth giving it a go , 1 or 2 guys on here have links to manufacturers.
It would be great to see an old brand back from the past.
Would you mind if I used the information you posted here and put it on the Snuff wiki for all to read?
Definitely one of the coolest stories so far. I’d love to visit all the old snuff mills here in the States.
Glad you enjoyed the story, it was my pleasure to share it with you snuff connoisseurs.
I will have look in my family papers/photo boxes to find the recipes. If I remember correctly, there is an ingredient in both recipes that is either not available today. or toxic by today’s standards. I’ll let you know when I dig them up sometime this summer.
I’ll also share what few photos I have taken inside the snuff factory. It isn’t much, but you can see the dried tobacco leaves, work table where the chewing snuff was put in tins for sale, etc.
Wingcamnu t, feel free to post the Soderberg snuff history on your wiki here, I’d be honored.
Dakotas , they have torn down our family’s old house with the snuff facory building out back a few years ago. The property is now the new Studebaker National Museum. That is the factory my great-grandfather worked at (making Studebaker cars) when gr-grandma started making the snuff.
It has taken me so long to some back to this web site for a visit, I hope the original poster stops by and sees that I answered his question.
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That’s so cool!
I’m originally from West Lafayette, IN! Hello fellow hoosier!
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story!
Great story, thanks!
Great story, I’ve put a copy on the FAQ.
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@snuffisus I have only just read this post five years after you posted it. @nicmiser drew my attention to your article.
Lovely family history, and I am very intrigued to know if the recipes and technique will ever be published publicly by you.
Hears hoping and praying.
Cheers.
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