What do you think about the socioeconomic status of snuff users? One stereotype is that we are a bunch of snorting rednecks (or equivalent), pump gas, smoke other stuff…etc. Another stereotype is that we are eccentric investment bankers. Obviously, neither of these stereotypes are accurate nor capture the true diversity of a population. But, compared to the average person in your country, or maybe the average smoker (a more fair question), how does the average snuff user measure up? Where is the snuff user on the socioeconomic ladder in your country? Im in the US and I think its bimodal: More snuff users at the top and bottom of the ladder (less in the middle)… possibly skewed to the bottom but who knows? I also dont think our gang here on the forum is representative (we are internet savvy, express opinions, have enough cash and time on our hands, etc.)

I’m at the bottom of the spectrum. I wasn’t always here, but life changes. Snuff for me is a luxury, it’s mostly inexpensive and I can afford to “splurge” on a few tins every few months. Just judging by the members here I’d say there is a lot more people on my end of the spectrum. I would be much more interested in how ones economic conditions effects their preferred flavors. Like us poor folks like SPs best where the upper crust prefers florals…(Yeah, my bias is showing.)

I think some of us are bankers who’s hobbies include pumping gas. Me I’am independantly wealth, oh wait I’am independant of wealth. I get that backwards sometimes. Though we are all upperwardly mobile even if in an eliptical way.

I am the only snuff user I know in real life. I have a few friends who will have a pinch with me, but none of them place orders or joined a forum about it. I wouldn’t say I have a lot of cash or time on my hands though I am relatively young, no kids, etc, so I can afford the occasional snuff splurge or some pipe tobacco or a cigar once in a while. Snuff is so unheard of 'round here that I imagine it would lack the cachet nessecary to draw the fat cats, though I did see a short blurb about McChrystal’s S’nuff in a Canadian cigar magazine many years ago.

Blue collar working class here. With the money I save by not dipping and smoking (used to a LOT!) I can buy a few tins and keep a nice variety available.

I’m also at the low end, at least now, and never higher than the middle (broadcasting in the 80s, and software development 90s+, sidelined in religion and herbal medicine). I like snuff. I endorse its use. I’ll have a snuff lounge in my office when I get solidly back in business again. Smokers have to stand outside in the courtyard. Not by my choice, it’s the law where I live. At least we can snuff inside

In Germany Schmalzlers are used in Bavaria (the most sothern federal state) as a tradition of all classes, especially the farmers. In the Ruhrgebiet, where I come from, there is/was a long standing tradition of coal mining and a lot of miners are/where snuffing (mainly the mentholated Pöschls). Besides that only a few people take snuff, but I can not sociological classify them. I myself am a son of a working class family, but would not describe myself as working class. It’s difficult but an exciting question.

Right in the lower class right now. unemployed and may not get unemployment, but have enough snuff to last about a year, lol. But have an interview monday. edm

Good Luck!^ I’ve bounced around SE classes since starting snuff, but I have tastes that vary from what is typical around here. I was I guess “middle class” when I started, now I’m a college student and am broke.

Working class from a working class family. A man of modest means, but earn enough of a crust that I can keep myself in a generous supply of tobacco.

Former mechanic turned automotive technical writer, still pretty much low on the rungs financially. Nobody I know snuffs but me, although a coworker and a few friends will take the occasional pinch…

Perhaps snuff does not fit any of the ordinary sociological categories because snuff in itself is extra-ordinary. In this way it is really aristocratic.

I’m in the middle class blue collar category myself. I am also from America (since you asked). An’ yep, I’m a hillbilly.

Definately working class, with no hope of ever moving up the ladder. unfourtunately my name isn’t Kate Middleton. Stefan

@Uwe I think there’s a touch of romantic aristocrat in all snuffers. Also, I’d say we tend to be on the enlightened side as well, being that we think for ourselves enough that we choose our tobacco in a form a bit different from normal folk.

I’d class myself as working class, I work for a bank. It’s interesting how different nationalities class themselves though, I did Sociology as a GCSE, and we were taught the Royals and nobles make up the upper classes, solicitors, doctors, investment bankers etc make up the middle classes (this is obviously very broad), with the rest making up the working classes. How would somebody from America for example classify it, were you don’t have a ‘landed gentry’? Also, in the UK, I believe that as the current set of Lords and Lady’s die out, you now get a ‘life peerage’ in the House of Lords, as opposed to it being passed from father to son. Its an interesting topic.

@xapken - I totally agree. But I could also see an alternative snuff-image to the aristocrat … The ‘down to earth’, ‘back to basics’, ‘work the land’, image. I wonder if the snuff-image one holds is related to class. Are the ‘rich’ feeling more aristocratic with snuff, or do they like the ‘earthyness’ of it all? I suppose I’m US upper-middle class at the moment (arguably going down) and, for me, its the earthy aspect of snuff: Give me a tobacco leaf and I can turn it into snuff on my own. Its the *opposite* of ‘fancy’ and I love it.

@danw1988 Good question about the US classes. Here is one possible cut at it (those that know something about it should forgive my ignorance): In America the upper class would be anyone that falls under “rich or affluent”. Mostly they got this way through business success, politics, inheritance or some combination (extream example = the Kennedy’s). Middle class would be doctors, lawers, bankers… those that combine higher education with a profession that brings in a good salary. Once you back away from either the education or salary components you start moving towards middle-lower class.

I’m in a class of my own!! I snuff, smoke a pipe, snus and when I’ve got some loose change, I buy a cigar. I buy expensive tobacco and snuff but also plant my own tobacco and make my own snuff. I don’t care what people think of me, I wear whatever I feel comfortable in and I run my business the way I think it should be done. I wear a cap most of the time, I sport a full beard and I ride my bicycle at the ripe old age of 67. I sing in the shower and also while out shopping. I’m a speed fanatic and enjoy driving fast, real fast like 200kph or more. I don’t pay speed fines or parking tickets. And…I’m an independent insurance broker and member of SnuffHouse.

I guess I am farmer. I get paid to grow grapes and then assist the winemaker in the fall and work the retail in the winter. I snuff because I’ve always been interested in “odd” hobbies. ( odd in Canada at least). I don’t make a hell of a lot of money, but between my wife and I, we make enough that the Government won’t issue us H.S.T cheques, or allow us to be eligible for property tax reimbursement. S.O.B’s!!! Extreme lower middle class? Not sure. I’m glad the price of snuff isn’t rising like gasoline!!!

I’ve been poor enough to say soap or food?

Eh snuff is cheap. I came to snuff simply because I wanted to see what it was like. I’m poor and on disability because of a stroke. But I still live with my parents and am a college student, so I guess that comes with the territory.

Im workin class, and I had alot more money until I started snuffin, chawin, dippin, pipin, and buyin everything i laid my eyes on!! LOL.

Ex banking IT consultant here, now retired.

Though this is reminding me of something I read recently. Some economists think that in the next couple decades being a farmer is going to be a much more lucrative bussiness.

Well financially I am dirt poor because of having no job and also being a college student. I also seem to have lower income written into my being in that I am a poet, a musician, and a philosopher, usually these types of people are classed as lower income individuals although there have been and are exceptions. I don’t really mind not having any money I just wish I didn’t have to worry about it so much. I got into snuffing for a couple of reasons the first one is that I feel a little more connected to the people who came before me who also snuffed, and most likely several of our ancestors probably snuffed as well. the second one is that after smoking off and on for 4 years or so my body stopped liking it and caused me to not feel well, and so far snuff hasn’t done that to me at all.

lawyer by day, death country blues musician by night.

Death country blues? If that wasnt a joke, im intrigued…

@ Mike B. can’t help it I imagine some kind of zombie thing. Like your singer being dressed up as zombie Hank Williams Sr. Then singing songs about how much it sucks to be dead.

Was upper middle class till about a week ago now I’m just broke, lol.

Here in Dublin snuff takers are either inner city hard men, old wans or barristers . I’m kind of between there

@danw1988: I have noticed (at least on the non-Europe side of the Atlantic) that many working class people see themselves as middle class and arguably vote against their own interests, though I suppose it all depends on your perspective on what those interests may be. I will leave it at that so as not to get political, but I think it may be due in part to not having a well-defined “class system” in (for example) the British sense and not being exactly sure what it all means. Just a thought. @nightcap: I remember a few years back you posted some pictures of your farm and grapes. If a guy in BC wanted to get some of those grapes in bottled form, what would he look for on the label?

@falconfive and @bob: death country blues sums it up pretty well–I’d use it more if a band hadn’t used it as their band name. I will also accept “atheist gospel swamp stomp”. http://www.reverbnation.com/unclesinner

Cool I’ve been told I make Jazzy Symphonic industrial. The thing is I think that is a good discription of what I do.

Office worker in the electronic publishing industry, living on the edge of genteel poverty here, from a solid working class/hillbilly background. But I like Uwe’s view that snuffers constitute a sort of “aristocracy of free-thinkers.” Nobility doesn’t have to be about money or power.

I bend wrenches working on Cars, trucks. Gas and Deisel. between jobs now. My wife is a pre reg clerk at the local hospital. I guess lower middle class. edm

I’m young and working/in school and poor but I have what I need and can buy things I need most of the time. So I guess I’m comfortable? I come from a well-off family though so that helps sometimes. I’ll be working for my father’s company soon so things might get better this next year! www.batswireless.com Read about it it’s really interesting! I’m the artsy, eccentric musician type. I’m also engaged and my fiance loves snuff. There. Since we’re all saying what kind of people we are. In the end, I think anyone can snuff; there’s all kinds that snuff. There’s one for everyone!

For cigarette smoking in the US: "Adults with 16 or more years of education had the lowest smoking prevalence (11.3 percent). Adults with 9 to 11 years of education had higher smoking prevalence (36.8 percent) compared to adults with fewer or more years of education. Smoking prevalence was higher among adults living below the poverty level (32.3 percent) than those living at or above the poverty level (23.5 percent). " So there may be some association between education, income and smoking. Could snuff be different? When you consider that snuff is a cheaper form of nic we might expect an even stronger connection between low income and snuff use. On the other hand, you could argue that it takes more education to be aware of snuff as an option, and its benefits.

Working class. Come from indentured servants 150 years ago and still working class. My Dad and his family picked cotton and share cropped in this county just fifty years ago. He became a tradesman as well as I have. Comfortable living, never really wanted much…got a place to farm now, hoping to get to do more of that before I’m gone. Snuff is on the table, the wine is ready, life is good.

RE: On the other hand, you could argue that it takes more education to be aware of snuff as an option, and its benefits. Absolutely! Also out of the box thinkers. To some, the idea of powdered tobacco up the nostril is offensive. It just isn’t done. An individual thinker will try and decide for themselves. Those with education in history even find the idea to be a romanticized revival of a historical craft. To put it more simply. I find the entire practice to be a form of elitist enjoyment. Pixx on them if they don’t approve. (pardon the rant)

@NelsonPipeClub PM me your mailing address. We are not in B.C Maybe I can send you a bottle?

Going back to the peak popularity of the 1700’s, snuff was used across the board, from monarchs to peasants. Nowadays I think it’s more to do with chance as much as anything else if a person uses snuff. It’s easy to think it’s more popular than it is if you spend time on a snuff site talking about it but we are a tiny minority in global terms, probably not even big enough to do a meaningful study on. As a retired cop I suppose I’m firmly in the blue collar bracket myself.

True, during the heyday of snuff, it was used by all social classes. But beyond that period, I’d have to agree with the observation that it persisted at both the top and the bottom of the social ladder, while being all but forgotten by those in the middle. To the gentry, snuff had a certain cachet, particularly when offered to friends from an elaborately designed and obviously expensive snuffbox. Poor working men, especially those who couldn’t smoke on the job, like miners, took up snuff out of necessity and due to the fact that it was inexpensive. It only takes a generation or two before such customs become solid traditions of a given subculture. Nowadays, snuff is once again starting to transcend class barriers, if for no other reason than people are looking for alternatives to cigarettes. No doubt some have other motives as well, but I think that’s likely the primary driver of the very modest upswing in snuff use.

Interesting thread. It always fascinates me to read about the people here. I would think that to a point, snuff use is not segregated among classes. There are open-minded people of all levels, just as there are closed-minded ones. However there may be some statistical interpretations that claim more tobacco use among lower to middle classes. Myself, I’ve always been blue collar. Shoodah stayed in school. Oh well, have been working for the man for decades, now I have my own business. It’s still pretty blue collar, but now I have to play the bean-counter too. I do the books, consult with clients, and clean the toilets. lol

This might be the wrong thread, but I like to envision a series of local gatherings for forum members and snuff users in general. Maybe invade a few pubs once a year. We’d need regional chapters tho to include as many as possible. Just a thought.

I have not noticed any socioeconomic stereotypes. We are just “odd ducks”… Odd ducks can be found in every strata of the socioeconomic echelon. Since I am an analyst, I prefer to think that it shows an analytical mindset. I have scoured the internet from the American Cancer Society to the World Health Organization looking for information about dry snuff and cancer. The only negative report I have been able to find about dry snuff and cancer is a flyer written by Dr. John Hill in 1761. He later recanted his report admitting that the whole thing was a fabrication and said that he had written it because he was pissed off at his local tobacconist! People cite Dr. John Hill’s paper TO THIS DAY as “evidence” in their cancer campaigns.