Are there snuff-related memes or images out there? If you have any favorites, feel free to share them.
Mark
They look like identical twins in this picture. I hope the artist was just incredibly weird or not that imaginative and they didn’t really look exactly alike.
Washington was a second or third gen tobacco farmer so it’s probably true that he made his own.
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It is hard to find details about historical figures and snuff. I think it was so common place, there just aren’t many contemporary sources that bother to mention it. It would be like mentioning they liked salt on their food, or had an occasional beer. There are sources that make it very clear George was a snuff-taker, but the one I found that talked about him making his own after his favorite English snuff was unavailable to him wasn’t 100% solid. But, it makes complete sense and does seem likely.
I found a picture of Martha’s gold snuff-box, and a pretty good source that she liked the violet-scented (because there are records she bought some of that particular snuff). But, I was sort of lucky to find that much about her snuff-use.
Mark
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Quick note about the Martha and George thing - I just found a list of goods ordered for George Washington, and it includes 3 lbs. of Violette Strasberg snuff and 3lbs. of Scotch Snuff. All the quantities on the list of goods were large, but that’s a lot of snuff! Must have been a large staff and lots of guests at their home to go through that much snuff!
Mark
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well overseas or even over land delivery was a different beast back then you’ll find people ordered things in larger quanities less frequently back then not just of tobacco
Definitely. Everything on the list was fairly large quantities. Except one thing that make me laugh. On the list was “1 black mask.” All these supplies, sundries, and household goods, etc. And then “1 black mask.” :-)
Mark
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Here’s what the phrase Snuff Meme brings to mind
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LOL! @Roderick , are you seeing this marketing opportunity?
Mark
Yeah, I’m probably not using the term meme correctly. Wouldn’t be the first time I wasn’t using a word right!
I’m just looking for any share-worth snuff-related images that can be posted to Facebook or other social networking sites in order to make people laugh, or making them think about something differently, or educate a little. If you get the time, you should post that Cheese & Bacon meme over on the Modern Snuff Facebook, @Hitsuzen.
Mark
During the beatification investigation of Philip Neri, to determine if he would be made a Saint, the man’s snuff use became an issue. An examination of Philip Neri’s corpse during the investigation showed that the soft tissues of his nose had gone (he was 79 when he died) and so his body was not incorruptible. It was suggested that this was due to his heavy use of snuff. Despite this set-back, Philip Neri was canonized a Saint in 1622.
To read about more famous snuff-takers, CLICK HERE.
Mark
A little more about Philip, for those that like history.
As far as Saints go, Philip’s story is pretty interesting. During an exorcism he forced a demon dog out of a woman, and when it ran at him, he threw a mace at it causing it to flee. This was a man of action.
Another time, a boy was drowning, and Philip “bi-located” right next to the boy in the water and drug him to shore. While praying, Philip was so filled with love that his heart expanded breaking two of his ribs!
Another time, a young prince had died without making confession. Philip put holy water on the prince’s lips, brought him back to life long enough to make his confession, and then let the boy slip away again.
Whether religion or saints are your thing, everything I read about Philip suggested he was a very good man at a time when good men were somewhat rare in the Catholic church hierarchy. I think snuff-takers can be proud this gentleman was one of ours.
Mark
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Charles Darwin used snuff as a stimulant while working. He once game up snuff for a month, and described himself as feeling “most lethargic, stupid, and melancholy.”
Find out what happened with Charles Darwin and the monkey at This Page.
Mark
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This photo must have been taken during that month off, because the look in his eyes is not only far off and distant, but quite forlorn and melancholy, plus his mustache is whitey white!
LOL. Snuff-less induced depression.
In the 18th century giving a snuff box as a present became a sign of exalted gift-giving. Marie Antoinette had fifty-two gold snuff boxes in her wedding basket. While this may seem extravagant, it should be remembered that in the eighteenth century the snuff box was the equivalent of jewellery and not only did the snuff box change with artistic fashion but anyone who was anyone needed to have a variety of these boxes.
What most people think they know about Marie Antoinette is actually false. She was originally Austrian. She never actually said, “Let them eat cake.” She was a champion of the American side of the Revolutionary War, and without her efforts the war might have ended quite differently. After the French Revolution, none other than the American revolutionary Thomas Paine (at that time part of the French Legistlature, as strange as that sounds) advocated exile for the Royal Family to the United States, rather than death. Marie Antoinette was a loving dedicated mother, and she faced execution by guillotine bravely. Marie Antoinette also took snuff, though it is said she was more likely to carry a box of bon bons on her person, than a snuff box.
She may have also standarized the modern handkerchief as we think of it today. The handkerchief has a long history as a piece of cloth carried to clean one’s nose. But, prior to the triumphant arrival of tobacco (specifically snuff tobacco) in Europe, the handkerchief had become an object of fashion. Snuff brought the handkerchief back to its original purpose, as it became indispensable for cleaning snuff-stained noses! White handkerchiefs were hardly suitable for this and people took to using large, coloured kerchiefs to hide the stains. Up until this time, the handkerchief had come in many shapes, such as round, square, triangular, etc. According to legend, one day Marie Antoinette at Versailles remarked that the square-shaped handkerchief was the most pleasing as well as convenient. This prompted Louis XVI to make it mandatory for all handkerchiefs produced within the kingdom to be square in shape. And the rest, as they say, is history…
Mark
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Frederick the Great ruled Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. Frederick aspired to embody the Platonic ideal of a “philosopher-king.” He was a poet, a writer, a musician, a domestic reformer and a brilliant military strategist.
Frederick led his nation through multiple wars with Austria and its allies. His daring military tactics expanded and consolidated Prussian lands, while his domestic policies transformed his kingdom into a modern state and formidable European power. He was an enthusiastic patron of the arts and sciences, and corresponded with the top minds of the Enlightenment. He had a long and sometimes contentious friendship with Voltaire.
Frederick The Great used snuff, especially under the stress of command. Once a musket balll hit a snuff box in his breast pocket, saving his life!
The cynical temper of Frederick the Great is well known. Once when his sister, the Duchess of Brunswick, was at Potsdam, Frederick made to the brave Count Schwerin the present of a gold snuff-box. On the lid inside was painted the head of an ass. Next day, when dining with the king, Schwerin, with some ostentation, put his snuff-box on the table. Wishing to turn the joke against Schwerin, the king called attention to the snuff-box. The Duchess took it up and opened it. Immediately she exclaimed,’ What a striking likeness! In truth, brother, this is one of the best portraits I have ever seen of you.’ Frederick, embarrassed, thought his sister was carrying the jest too far. She passed the box to her neighbor, who uttered similar expressions to her own. The box made the round of the table, and every one was fervently eloquent about the marvelous resemblance. The king was puzzled what to make of all this. When the box at last reached his hands, he saw, to his great surprise, that his portrait was really there. Count Schwerin had simply, with exceeding dispatch, employed an artist to remove the ass’s head, and to paint the king’s head instead. Frederick could not help laughing at the Count’s clever trick, which was really the best rebuke of his own bad taste and want of proper and respectful feeling.
Mark
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Perfect.
As a historical factoid, I read that Queen Charlotte used to favor a snuff called ‘Violet Strasbourg’ which consisted of attar of rose, rappee, bitter almonds and ambergris. It has been recreated by Sir Walter Scott in the form of ‘Roslein’. My question is that the Queen also used to add green tea to it. Would anyone know what the tea was for?