I leave here a short list of companies that operated in Latvia in the period 1918-1939.
“Bambus”
Place of business: Marijas iela 136, Riga
Years of business: approx. 1923 - approx. 1938
Owner: Kristine Caka (born 1877 in Burtnieki)
Snuff: Sievina, Rocina, Pikitis, Pika kungs
“Merkuri”
Place of business: Katoļu iela 2, Riga
Years of business: approx 1922 - approx. 1928
Snuff: Sarkanais Auniņš, Banits, Actiņa, Aunins, Pulkstens
“Trud”
Place of business: Ģertrūdes ielā 108, Riga
Years of operation: approx. 1924 - approx. 1936
Snuff: Milda, Balodītis, Zelta Dīķis
Other interesting facts: In 1929, the company employed 100 people.
“Riga”
Place of business: Liepāja
Years of business: approx. 1929
Snuff: Večuks
A. Jaunzems
Place of business: Riga
Years of business: approx. 1934
“Dukats”
Place of business: Riga
Years of business: approx. 1923 - approx. 1929
Owner: T. Lifšic, G. Kiš un J. Vaserman
Snuff: Pakava, Banits, Actina
Other interesting facts: Main bad character. Their dishonest actions in counterfeiting labels and selling products of the same name were complained about by, among others, “Merkuri”, “Trud”, but also the German company “Mundel un Ko.”.
Apart from these companies, the following foreign companies operated in Latvia:
1924: Haus Neuerburg
1924: Cigarettenfabrik Muratti Akteingesellschaft
1924: Mundel un Ko
1936: Rūtenberg
1936: Šereševskis
After the war, I found two memoirs of “Banitis” snuff - from 1946 and 1949, but they had no connection with the previously mentioned companies.
Blame the smokes? The demand for snuff must had shrinked dramatically with snuff taking tradition withering in the region (as flows out of common reasoning; mind you, I haven’t investigated the subject).
Right? As far as I understand, the manufacture of Banītis continued in the nationalized and renamed tobacco factory.
P. S. Just a bold assumption, this. I’m not aware when exactly the factory on Katoļu street 2 (now Kurbada street) was demolished and if it actually was nationalized by the Soviet regime. Maybe only the recipe of said snuff survived and manufacturing continued in some other factory for a while after Latvia’s occupation by the Soviet Union, @Filek.
Here’s what I managed to find - merely a side wall of the tall building on the left side of the photo (dated 1928-1935), just a shadow, actually (source: Redzi, dzirdi Latviju!). Current location is the very corner of Gertrūdes and Kurbada streets. It’s near the Central Railway Station; I walked right down there through Kurbada St. ten days ago, not knowing the fact yet.
Riga was one of the most important centers of tobacco production during the Russian Empire, so this list could probably be longer if we look at the topic as a whole. Of course, the coming of communism caused the emergence of a tobacco monopoly, and the proclamation of independence by Latvians from the Soviet Union gave them the opportunity to establish private businesses, so I created such a list based only on the Latvian press.
The fact that these companies operated for a short or relatively short time could have been caused by several factors (and I must add that they did not only deal with the production of snuff). Of course, we are already in the 20th century, so it is known that the market is currently focused on cigarettes. Although they were also producers of such, there was also local and foreign competition (mainly German), which simply had better products in their offer. Additionally, changes in the law, which most companies simply could not cope with.
Of course, the dates I provided are only theoretical based on the oldest and youngest found mentions. I leave this more for future snuff historians.
@Volunge, are the names Banitis and Banits the same or two different names? This is a bit confusing to me.
Soviet currency - rouble / kopecks - was introduced in 25/3/1941, so the latter product dates past that date.
The first, shorter name (with a vowel cut in the noun ending - is) is older, colloquial Latvian word for train (of German origin, obviously, with LV diminutive suffix -īt-, i. e. Bahn + -īt- + -(i)s). Bānītis is contemporary colloquialism for narrow-gauge train. There’s still one regularly operating in Latvia: Train Narrow gauge train in Latvia - VisitAluksne.
Just re-visited Alūksne Narrow-gauge Railway Station Fb site (Redirecting...) and stumbled upon this image - a proof that Bānītis brand snuff was also produced past July 1941, after Latvia’s occupation by Nazi Germany during WW II (1941-1945). It was produced in different factory, though -
Rīgas tabakas fermentācijas fabrika (now defunct; the old building is located at Bruņinieku street 13, Riga).
I love these forgotten bits of history. It would definitely be good to have a more in-depth study of the Baltic and Russian countries to read.
I quickly took a look at “Merkus” and it turns out that they were in business much longer, because I found a mention of them from 1939. The owners of the company were Alfrēds Ķelle and Otto Trīmers.
It seems that this monopoly from the time of the German occupation lasted between 1942 and 1945. From what I understand, there were several tobacco fermentation plants throughout the country, with which growers signed an agreement to sell their tobacco. Then the tobacco was digested to processing plants - for example, to the “Armata” factory. I don’t know if it worked that way for snuff. Nevertheless, it would seem that “Banitis” no longer had much in common with the “Merkurs” factory and only the labels remained for better sales (or better recognition - it is possible that it was the best-selling snuff before the war).
Sorry, but I’ve come up with a bit of an inaccuracy, because according to the Latvian state archives, this communist monopoly (at least under the name on the packaging) operated from 1940 to 1947. And I’ve seen it described that way in the press - even during the German occupation. I may be a bit off, because I’m researching the material with Google Translate, but it’s possible that the Germans just adopted the system introduced by the Russians in 1940. I’d probably have to listen to Prata Vetra a bit to enjoy digging further into the Latvian material.
In general, I think Latvia provides a good entry point into the USSR thread. If the Latvian SSR had its own legal system regarding tobacco, did every other republic have its own? That would even make it easier to finally catch the factories making snuff during that period - and we know a few that were made in the USSR.
As mentioned above, in 1928 Latvian newspaper Lejaskurzemes ziņas had advertised the launch of some new snuff - Kuģītis, which joined Bānītis and Actiņa.
The names translates as Little Ship, Little Train and Little Eye, respectively.
Do Latvians love diminutives!
Rociņa - Little Hand
Sieviņa - Little Woman (elderly)
Večuks - Little Old Man
Pīķītis - Little Pike (Spade)
Auniņš - Little Lamb
Balodītis - Little Pigeon
Hm… Indeed, it’s not specified that Kuģītis is snortable tobacco, and maybe it’s just a wishful thinking of mine. I thought it was omitted stylistically, the second “šņaucamā”. I you have any other source listing it as smoking tobacco, I would like to see a snippet.
This could be tricky. Most tobacco companies registered the name “tabakai” with the intention of using it for several tobacco products from what I’ve seen (many also simply listed which ones). Whether Dukats eventually made anything with that name is a mystery at this point, but I haven’t actually seen Kuģītis mentioned in relation to smoking tobacco. However, the FB post seems to have an error, because I found that in 1928 Merkurs started making Kuģītis as snuff, not Dukats.
Thanks, @Filek! This ad addresses particularly the users of Bānītis un Actiņa brands nasal snuff, so it would be odd to inform them about the release of smoking tobacco.
And yes, there’s more than one error in that FB post.
