Of course buying snuff in tins is the traditional thing, but does anyone know when snuff was first sold in tap boxes? I would imagine it’s a late 20th Century thing, but does anyone have an idea of roughly the year that tap boxes were first used?
I would say late 70’s early 80’s. I think Poschl first introduced them with Ozona.
seems most likely it would have been germany since german snuffs tend to be alright from tap boxs.
Yeah, that’s what I was thought was most likely - that it was started in Germany, specifically with Poschl. Late 70’s/early 80’s probably seems about right - late 20th century as I guessed in the first post. Are there any old-timers here who remember when they first started seeing tap boxes available?
As far as English snuffs go, I believe it was right around the time Sauron took over GH’s packaging division.
Might be a bit earlier. I see old Ozona tins on ebay from time to time, that might date to the 50s. The tap box is simply a disposable form of the German snuff bottle or tap dispenser type snuff box. It made sense that the German manufactures would evolve their packaging that way. What is not logical is that English makers would see that and say, “Hey, that German snuff sells really well. It must be the dispenser. We should do the same!”
I can remember buying Gletscherprise in Regensburg in a tap box in 1976 if that helps. It was pretty much the same design as now.
Well, the Olympics were in Munich in 1972. I’ve seen some Pöschl gift sets that are commemorative editions from then on ebay. They usually include a box of Glestcherprise.
Well the chinese used tap bottles hundreds of years ago, sometimes with a tiny integral spoon but also as just bottles. Snuff boxes - as opposed to company packaging - have been made in this style on and off for hundreds of years. Ive also got an old snuff book that shows a plain glass tap bottle of US manufacture from around the civil war period. Most snuff was sold loose until the 20th century of course.
J & H Wilson had a 'new 'brand in the 80’s with a flip top lid called ‘Kensington’ I wouldn’t think it was sold now though, but innovative for us as we had always sold the pocket boxes, these new boxes had a gold emblem embossed on the front and the box was oblong and a dark red/burgundy colour.
Kensington is still sold. It is made in South Africa these days, I believe.
A few years ago some unscrupulous person was selling a tatty President box as an antique on Ebay. Offers from the gullible were flooding in. The first plastic flip-top box sold in the UK was for Kensington snuff by J&H Wilson in November 1980. Their showcard featured five antique boxes together with the Kensington pack “J&H Wilson Snuff Collection : Half Dozen of Elegance” It was a long slim box of a redish-brown colour. Gawith Hoggarth and Illingworth started using them in Britain the following year. They were calculated to appeal to the 20-35 age group. The design for Gawith Apricot and President flip-top boxes remain exactly the same today. My loathing for this type of packaging remains exactly the same today too. By the mid-1980s every UK snuff manufacturer had at least one of these trendy boxes in their range. The exceptions were Permaflex (Hedges Snuff) Wilsons of Sharrow and GH Smiths (F&T went out of business in December 1981 so they don‘t count). In the May edition of Tobacco 1984 Mr. Whatley of Hedges argues that plastic has been shown by laboratory tests to drastically shorten the shelf-life of snuff. Too true! Interestingly McChrystals sold everything in tap-boxes except the ‘Original & Genuine’ which was only available in the tin. Also of interest is that after McCrystals abolished the abominable plastic box Samuel Gawith started using them. Some brands of German snuff have been packaged in these bloody awful boxes since circa 1970.
Ha, ha I can remember as part of the promotion for Kensington I had the job of sticking empty boxes on these very display cards for promotions in tobacconists!
Here is a photo of Kensington on a vendor’s site. Its now owned by Arnold André and manufactured by Swedish Match. Primarily sold in the German market. Many of the English brands ended up likewise (SIngleton’s, Rumney’s, Radford’s etc) 
"Ha, ha I can remember as part of the promotion for Kensington I had the job of sticking empty boxes on these very display cards for promotions in tobacconists! " How nice to correspond with someone who worked at Westbrook. When I visited the Sheffield mills many years ago I perceived, rightly or wrongly, that both mills enjoyed a very friendly and happy working atmosphere. Even the fabled ghost was welcomed. Amongst my many snuff souvenirs I’ve found a picture of Britain’s first flip-top box. There is a fancy italic font for Kensington with ‘English Menthol Snuff’ printed underneath. The elaborate crest is also featured. The official description reads: A superb English menthol snuff, mildly medicated, which merges the long tradition of skilled blending with the most up-to-date packaging design. Your boss (Mr. Reg Harrison) was quoted in Tobacco 1981as optimistically saying, “We hope that in this new pack we’ve achieved a design which could be as important in its way as an example of late 20th century aesthetics as any of its showcard companions … the purpose, however, of the pack was primarily practical, although we do believe that this more modern presentation will make a strong appeal to the young element in the market as well as to women.” How condescending to women! Imagine a general manager saying that today. Right, now cough up all the secrets please. What I want to know is how Top Mill achieved added flavour in a higher concentration than its sibling, S.P No.1? Also I wish to know where (other than the USA, Canada and Malawi) tobacco was sourced, the type and the mixtures for Top Mill and S.P No.1 as well as the proportions used? Thank you.
Xander - that’s the box. It’s nearly the same as the original but the wording and fonts differ. On the original everything was printed on the right-hand side.
Hi Philip, what memories!!! Reg Harrison only thinking about him this morning, nice guy always made a point of saying good morning to each member of staff in the office and mill, I respected him for that, you wouldn’t get that these days. When did you visit Westbrook Mill? I was there from 1978 to 1989 when it closed, one of the last people there, very very sad. I do know the answer to the Top Mill/SP question and I think I have mentioned the answer in another post on here, I got rambling a little! I recall we had a bit of banter when we got calls for Wilsons & Co and I am sure they had calls for us too, we always gave their number out but I’m not sure they liked us up the road with all our ‘modern’ machinery! Needless to say they are still operating down there, I am sure we would be too had it not been for Lord Hanson but I’ll not start on that one! Yes, you are right about the Kensington box, I feel sure it was on the right hand side. I also recall the type of snuff inside this fliptop box which we thought very innovative at the time.
"Hi Philip, what memories!!! Reg Harrison only thinking about him this morning, nice guy always made a point of saying good morning to each member of staff in the office and mill, I respected him for that, you wouldn’t get that these days. When did you visit Westbrook Mill? I was there from 1978 to 1989 when it closed, one of the last people there, very very sad. " Sad indeed. Sheffield could have done with any employment going in the 1980s. All the famous steel mills went west too during that decade - along with the last cloth cap and braces. I saw an advertisement in your blue booklet ‘Would you like a pinch’ regarding a mill tour of Westbrook and applied in writing for more information. Unfortunately I can’t find the letter I received, but my book ‘The Manufacture of Snuff’ by J&H Wilson and obtained on site is dated 1981 - so soon after then. (The book contains photographs of staff members that you must recognise. Why, you might even be featured yourself.) My acquaintance with J&H Wilsons snuffs extends much further back, however, and I remember as a boy purchasing the long forgotten Red Special S.P and Top Mill Black Horn amongst others. While in Sheffield I luckily saw an advertisement in a tobacconist touting a tour of Sharrow mill and so I killed two birds with one stone and ended up visiting both mills. Unfortunately Sharrow no longer operate tours. Did Westbrook ever stop their mill tours before closure?
Ah, ‘Would you like a pinch’ those booklets were sent out in their hundreds and I was the one preparing them! I wrote about this promotion in STE as it related to a ghost story but that’s another story! Anyhow I recall we had a celebrity of the day, Frank Muir to promote this as Frank was a keen snuff taker. Our lovely mill manager, who passed away last year used to run the trips around the mill, though we discontinued them later, I think time was a major factor. I would love to go back and take a look round now though I think I would find it upsetting to see my beloved mill carved into offices. I think the book you have is one I have ordered at our archive library to look at. I would definitely know the employees in the book if it was 1981, in fact I am sure I know who they are thinking about it and no I wasn’t in the book! We supplied all the local tobacconists via our own van until UK orders dwindled and exporting took over. It was the end of an era, some people had been there most of their working lives and I found it very hard moving into other areas of work after being in what seemed like a family to me. The 80’s were hard, you only have to watch The Full Monty to get a feel for Sheffield at the time but unfortunately today we are going through the same levels of unemployment and we all fear for our jobs…
When I watched the full Monty I kept hopeing that one of the mills would come up, they never did. Maybe in the directors cut. Man it’s great to hear about this stuff. (well not the unemployement and the like.)