With tobacco and snuff in particular being a huge impetus for trade between the Americas and Europe, I am wondering why there are certain countries that appear to have no snuff culture. The Spanish and Portuguese were among the first to bring snuff back to Europe from the New World. I know there was that isolated maker of “Spanish Jewel”, but why no Spanish snuff? What about France? France was a huge player in the Americas as well? Are there any French snuffs? There was an Italian Pope that used snuff, anybody ever had a pinch of Vatican? When looking at a map of Europe, one can see a line of snuff countries that cuts off France,Spain.Portugal and Italy. I’m surprised that snuff didn’t migrate to these places due to proximity and prevalence in neighboring countries. Thoughts?
When the going gets snuff, the snuff get going?
They all had snuff it just fell out of fashion there more than it did in britain/germany/switzerland. There’s still one manufacturer of Italian snuff and one (maybe two) in Portugal. There are Italian snuff forums. France had tons of snuff, that’s really where it caught on, but it hasn’t been produced since (iirc) the 1970s or 1980s.
Do you know who the Italian and Portuguese makers are? I’d be interested in them.
There was this one Portuguese guy I met at a party, and when he saw me using snuff, he stated that is grand mother used it.
They all had a large snuff culture once. Smoking long since eclipsed it and history has had its other effects (war/dictators/tobacco monopolies/embargoes etc). If it remains in Portugal or Italy its like Spanish Jewel was, a cottage industry. Also Pöschl controls the snuff market that remains on the commercial level. I think Italy has no remaining commercial snuffs, except Santa Caterina which is made for the monopoly by Pöschl. I’m not aware of any Portuguese snuffs, although I know that some of the Brazilian ones can be found in Portugal. Go a little further south and snuff still has a large use in North Africa. There too its mostly a cottage industry, but very well known and practiced.
Portugal has two snuff factories: Fábrica de Tabaco Estrela: Inglez Rapé Fábrica de Tabaco Micaelense: Rapé Extra RB, Rapé Limão, Rapé Prazer Few guys from top25snuff.com had an occasion to try the “Inglez”, so if anyone is interested to know more about it, you can ‘google translate’ this: http://top25snuff.com/component/content/article/37-tabaki/fabrica-de-tabaco-estrela/257-.html
Ha! A google search shows Fábrica de Tabaco Micaelense in the Azores! What a remote spot. Maybe it sells well to Azorean fishermen.
No, they both are there. On the same island in the same town. Must be their version of Kendal.
Portuguese were the most known snuff takers of the world in the XVIII and first half of the XIX century, so it’s good to know that they still have some small industry going on. Also good to know that the Poles keep the tradition from the XVI century