Perhaps Roderick or Tom can enlighten me on this one. I’m aware that snuff use saw quite a decline towards the end of the Victorian era. It seems as if it’s receiving a bit of an influx of late. But as I am not a blender or purveyor of snuff (except in that I offer it to waiters, coworkers, pretty much anyone who’s interested), I’m not really in a position to tell. Is snuff usage on the rise? Or will I be unfortunate enough to live to see a snuffless world?
Hello Gilgawulf, The decline of snuff was initiated with the introduction of the cigar in the second half of the 19th century and even more by the introduction of the cigaret in the beginning of the 20th century. In some regions snuff has kept a good foothold over the years as in Bavaria. Here in the Netherlands I noticed very slight interest in snuff during the last 10 years. If this interest will grow is hard to say, but we will see. Jaap Bes.
gilgawulf: Here’s a little song I wrote, I just want to sing it note for note, don’t worry, snuff happy! It would be pretty sad to see a snuffless world.
It was said that the introduction of the white hanky rang the death toll for snuff. But that was also in an age where not everything one might enjoy was legislated or taxed out of existence. Therefore, I suggest using only colored hankies and boycotting the scoundrels producing white ones…it may not be THE answer but it should be an excellent start!
On 1st January 1978 the Customs and Excise duty in Britain was removed from tobacco intended for the manufacture of snuff. This was the first time since 1590 that there was a tobacco product without duty. However, I wouldn’t count the lack of duty on snuff escaping the notice of busy-bodies in Whitehall eager to claw back some of the colossal external debt owed by Britain. While some new manufacturers have appeared many more have folded up since 1978. These include Gallaher (Irish snuff), Fribourg & Treyer, Illingworth, Hames Hargeaves & Sons, Robert McConnell, James Upshall, Alfred Preedy, John Grant and others. James Upshall were based in Wiltshire and their flagship snuff was Walnut. So while the removal of duty was welcome the anticipated exodus to snuffing did not materialise. Nor, I believe, will it materialise today. Given what happened in the 1980s a steady market is the best manufacturers can hope for.
I just cut up a Cuban Motecristo for grinding.
I would say, the rise and fall and rising again of snuff. I don’t think taxes had much to do with snuff’s decline, as in the US its not taxed now or historically as much as smoking tobacco. Of course in nasal usage, its even more unknown here than Britain, Germany etc, but of course has evolved into something altogether different in the oral (dipping) snuff, which is very popular here. I would say fashion, trend, marketing, and the general attitude of a people over time has had the most influence. Here, during the 1990s cigars expeienced a huge popularity rise, at the same time that cigarettes were demonized. These two trends have only continued in their respective directions. Comedians used to joke about this glaring disparity. I think time will tell of course, but personally I think the future is bright for snuff (if snus doesn’t edge it out). It might be a slower road than any of us want, but I think we at least are going in the right direction.
I’m pleased to hear that snuff is here to stay!
Roderick, that’s amazing growth, a real good indicator for the snuff world! Why couldn’t Toque qualify for the ‘Hot 100’? (Are tobacco companies excluded?)
I’m going to sleep better tonight knowing all of this.
The percentage of snuff tobacco being sold today is but a splinter of the total - by far the cigarette is the prefered way of using tobacco today. Perhaps companies like Toque experience a boom, but that is mainly because of a local Anglo-saxon interest. In Asia, Russia, and most of Europe, snuff is either unknown or labeled as a weird, antiquated way of tobacco use. In Scandinavia, there is definitely a market for snuff - for example 25% of the Danish population are smokers! Most smokers here trying to quit, do so with chemically produced alternatives, and the rate of relapse is almost 100%! Snus is only sold as loose snus outside Sweden, and is as such not a convenient alternative to cigarettes. More and more Danes have begun buying portion (pouches) snus from Sweden from online shops, which is still legal. With the current trends in European politics of extreme ideological political correctness, I see no realistic way of introducing snuff in Denmark as a smoke-less alternative to cigarettes. Recently I corresponded with “Kræftens Bekæmpelse” (Fight against Cancer) which is a hugely influential organization here, and at first they displayed a complete ignorance regarding what snuff actually is! Then they confused it with Swedish snus. Lastly they claimed that snus “is very dangerous”, completely denying modern research profing the exact opposite! With trend setting, powerful organizations like “Kræftens Bekæmpelse” there is NO chance that ANY tobacco product which is not presently sold here, will ever be introduced! But of course “Kræftens Bekæmpelse” is heavily endorsing chemical alternatives like chewing gum and nico-pads! I suspect they are very close to the manufacturers of these disgusting products. The hatred of tobacco however, is not a new phenomena. Many times throughout history, governments have tried to impose “healthy ways” on their populations. Funny enough most of exactly these governments never had any problems with sending these same populations into war and disaster, but that’s a different story!