In the heart of Dandyism, at 53 Jermyn Street in London (to be exact) you will find an exquisite bronze statue of George Bryan Brummel by Irena Sedlecka. A 7-minute walk down Jermyn Street will bring you to 34 Haymarket, the former home of Friboug & Treyer, which are the makers of this snuff. F&T was located here from 1720 until 1981. Clients included Mr. Brummel himself, as well as the future King George IV. Old Paris was “Beau” Brummel’s favourite snuff. This tin of rusty-red fluff greets you with a very slight burn. Feverish, its flavours are a subtle combination of leather, wet leaves, saddle soap, dates and rendered lamb fat. It tastes like the library at the East India Club. I was so deeply enamoured with it on the night we first met, that I immediately ordered the large box for fear of finding myself, at some point, without.
You know that Sir Johnny Scott (artisan extraordinaire and manufacturer of the Sir Walter Scott line of fine snuffs) used to buy snuff from Fribourg and Treyer’s commercial outlet before it finally shut its doors in the early 80s I think. Anybody know when exactly?
He has some evocative stories for sure.
Are you back on the forum Sir J?
They closed the shop in 1981.
Before that I always visited the shop whenever I was in London. It was like stepping back in time with friendly staff who happily chatted away with customers about a variety of subjects with no pressure to purchase anything - although I always did!
It was where - having sampled some snuff from a work colleague - I purchased my first tin of snuff which was Dr J.R. Justice and my first snuffbox. I also acquired a large number of their snuff handkerchiefs which they used to give away free with a purchase of 200 of their cigarettes. At other times they also gave away some very good bottles of wine when purchasing their cigarettes.
After they closed a small newsagents in an alley between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly had purchased their remaining stock of F&T pipes and were selling straight grains at half price. I bought 3 of them - a billiard, a bulldog and a Rhodesian but unfortunately I kept them in a large pipe bag that was stolen in a burglary some 10 years later. I have a good selection of pipes but I still regret the loss of those pieces of history.
I would have liked to visit it in its glory. I do enjoy a nice pipe, I have more than I smoke. We have a nice shop here in Montreal who still makes them to specs. I am a particular fan of Canadians.