Today is the 17th of July and I’m taking a big pinch for you all! Top25snuff.com is organizing this day for the 4th time. Last year with the help of 6Photo we even had a competion here on that day. But why I came up with such an idea? Browsing the calendar for all events of tobacco, I’ve noticed that there is missing one important day. We have tobacco fairs on which we find our beloved powder, the Kashubian Polish Championship, Germanic championship and the like festivals. But something was missing. So, feeling sufficiently important organ of Polish snufftakers we decide to make the “Polish Day of snuff”. But why did I picked the 17th of July? “The magistrate [Sandomierz] using the presence of Augustus II in the city, they received the privilege (on 17 July 1704) to create the first Polish snuff factory”. It can therefore be noted that we celebrate the day snuff at a very important time, remembering the creation of the first Polish tobacco factory, and thus the first Polish factory products. Wishing you all a happy day of snuff and do hope to see the “English day of snuff”, “American day of snuff”, etc. etc.
I had fun with last years contest. And the 6 photo sponsor made it fun with the old bollywood shorts. I thought it was unusual for a Polish Day celebration. But I love snuff from all parts of the planet. I don’t know if it boosted their sales;But it made me a connoisseur of their exotic powder. Thanks for doing that last year it brought back good memories.
Like basement shaman said this does bring back some good memories. The videos from last year were very entertaining and hilarious. With that being said its time for a pinch. With snuff between my fingers hope all of you have a wonderful day of snuff…AHCHOO!
Creating a day of snuff is very easy and I would like to encourage you to make such a day. Come on lads… in Poland we only have the Polish snufftaking championships (and a few other), but they are only noted for one region (Kashubia). The same goes for the Germans or rather Bavarians. We can go on, but… Snuffhouse has a strong international community and if you ever find a need to celebrate just one day of the year - with the whole snufftaking nation - just go for it. Pick a historical event to celebrate, or just pick a date in which you’d celebrate a certain thing. That’s all you’d need to do. And it makes a lot of joy. Cheers mates!
Hi Filek, where can I get more information on Polish snuff, especially it’s origins and traditions? All I can come up with is tobacco growing areas in Lesser Poland and Subcarpathia. Any leads would be appreciated, especially about Skroniowsky tobacco. Cheers.
A blast from the past. If you’re interested in basic information, most of the Wikipedia article was written by me. If something more specific, maybe I can find something in my book material.
And why Skroniowski all of a sudden? 
Hi Filek, I am writing a series of blogs for Mr. Snuff and one of the topics I chose was Polish snuff. I need some history about the production and peculiarities of snuff tobacco from Poland. I know we sell some Paul Gotard and I believe Rosinski uses ‘Skroniowsky’ tobacco in some of their recipes. Any links or references would be helpful. Cheers mate.
The fashion for taking snuff came to Poland at the beginning of the seventeenth century, probably from France, hence the name of tobacco powder “tabaka” (fr. tabac-a-priser). Initially, it was popularized among the peasant and townspeople by traders from Germany, Scotland and Italy.
Around 1620, Polish youth started smoking and taking snuff, which can be read in Birkowski’s sermon to Cracow students.
James I, King of England, wrote Misokapnos (1604) against the use of tobacco and snuff, sending a copy to King Sigismund III. Polish Jesuits - in order to ridicule James I - wrote a response entitled Antimisokapnos, in which they stated that snuff cannot harm health, and from a religious point of view, its use is not a sin.
Jakub Haur in the times of John III Sobieski talks about snuff:
" Densely in those times, and quite constantly, people of all kinds took up snuff, or French powder for the nose; even the ladies of this age take it, which makes and has the effect of drawing too much moisture out of the head, even the humidum radicale greatly dries a person."
Artisanal production of snuff in Poland dates back to the Saxon times.
On July 17, 1704, the privilege for the production of snuff was granted to the magistrate of Sandomierz by August II during his visit to the city, which initiated the establishment of the first snuff factory in Poland.
Between about 1750 and 1775, the tobacco market was monopoly-free. In Description of customs during the reign of August III by Jędrzej Kitowicz we learn about eighteenth-century Italian snuff producers from Warsaw - Syracuse, Bizesti and the Fontana brothers.
From 1776, snuff began to constitute treasury income by introducing a monopoly on tobacco factories. At that time, the government concluded a contract for 6 years with Dekert, Rafałowicz i Blank, which undertook to import the material itself and set up tobacco and snuff factories, as well as create a nationwide network of warehouses. Snuff was produced in Poznań, Warsaw, Korzec and Kielce.
In the Kingdom of Poland under Russian rule, a new tobacco monopoly began to function in 1816. The tenants were Leon Newachowicz and Leopold Kronenberg, and the factories were located in Powązki near Warsaw (later moved to Sielce), Krośniewice, Lublin, Augustów and Działoszyn. The monopoly was abolished in 1861, which contributed to the establishment of the Union factory in Warsaw on the free market and the activity of the Jewish factory owner Krasucki in Lublin.
The Polish lands under Austrian rule found themselves within the monopoly belonging to Austria. In the Prussian partition there was a free market with such manufacturers as Goldfarb (Starogard) or Woythaler (Bydgoszcz).
After Poland regained independence, the manufacture of snuff was taken over by the Polish Tobacco Monopoly, which produced several kinds of snuff: Napoleonka, Light Virginia, Dark Virginia, Zdrowia, Light Pomeranian and Dark Pomeranian, Masurian and Gdańsk. In the PRL period, only the last two remained, originally produced in the Tobacco and Snuff Factory in Racibórz, and then transferred to Wytwórnia Wyrobów Tobacco in Poznań.
In 1996, a ban on the production and sale of snuff was introduced in accordance with the Act on Health Protection against the Consequences of Using Tobacco and Tobacco Products. The ban was lifted in 2000.
In Poland, snuff left its mark because it was noticed by the poet Adam Mickiewicz. In Pan Tadeusz you can find many scenes in which snuff is in the center of attention. He appears in an aria in Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera Straszny Dwór. In Poland, snuff is particularly popular in Pomerania and Silesia (formerly also in Warmia and Wielkopolska). Among the Kashubians, it is a traditional stimulant, while Silesian miners often take it in mines to clear the respiratory tract.
Thanks, really appreciated. Take care mate.
As far as I understand, Paul Gotard and other Synchro brands (Three Musketeers, Butterfly, Chaty Polskie etc) are imported products made by other snuff manufacturers. I assume @Filek hasn’t even mentioned them exactly for that reason. I. e., they are not truly Polish, or authentic / traditional, if you will (even the “amber-flavoured” Kashubian Coast snuff isn’t scented with succinite).
That’s right, my good Sir. Personally (and probably by many Poles) I do not consider the Synchro brands (Paul Gotard, Chaty Polskie, etc.) and CiT brands (Three Musketeers, butterflies) as Polish snuff, as they are produced by contracted producers from other countries (England, India , South Africa). As far as I know, the only Polish snuffs (at least in terms of type of snuff) are produced by Bernard: Kownoer and Gekachelter Virginie. Anyway, what I wrote in the previous post is just a brief.
Anyway in case on the second topic, I’ve found a passage in the book about Polish types of tobaccos.
Skroniewski Broad-leaved. original variety; in terms of industry and utility, it belongs to the Puławski type. A plant with a cylindrical shape, clustered inflorescence. The number of leaves - about 20. They are large, wide, ovoid. After planting in the field, the plants grow slowly at first, and only in the second decade of July the growth of plants is very fast. The technical ripening of the leaves begins about a week later than Puławski 66. The leaves dry well, yielding raw material with a uniform, vivid light-brown and red-brown color.
Please elaborate on this thought.
As for Kownoer snuff, as you probably know, it belongs to the green tobacco snuffs, which of course is not a typically Polish style of snuff, as there were other cases in the world, but the Poles (and also Lithuanians) were in a sense strongly fond of making it. Mainly monkes made this type of snuff (that’s why I like to refer to these species as monastery snuffs) and the most famous representative who made it where Bernardines from Kaunas (hence the Polish name of the species: Bernardynka). In the tobacco industry, Kownoer snuff has existed since 1839 thanks to Goldfarb from Stargard, who somehow obtained a recipe for making this snuff from monks (one of the legends says that he gave some monk the shelter and the monk gave him the recipe in gratitude).
When it comes to gekachelter, they are otherwise called snuffs of the Danzig type (Danzig=Gdańsk). It’s basically nothing interesting, just a special mill is used, which is supposed to imitate the one used in local grinding pots. Just like with Kashubian ones that have a special chamfer at the bottom.
So if I understood correctly this Polish element in GV is just a specific grinding process? This is my favorite snuff, hence any information about it is of interest to me 
thx
Using a special grinding method is the only thing Bernard told me a few years ago in an e-mail. This is confirmed by the book of the Gdańsk Tobacco Monopoly.