Hello all. New snuffs from Swisher and one from Conwood are now available. I have yet to try any of these but many here have. Most have been reviewed at snuffreviews. To those that I quoted, hope this is ok.

Starr Scotch

Lorillards Sweet

Dixie Sweet

Three Thistle Sweet:
“Three Thistle Sweet is a fine dry snuff with a medium sweetness when compared with the other Swisher sweet snuffs like Society or Strawberry…..”
Thanks to Troutstroker.

Honest Scotch:
“A very enjoyable scotch. Like most of the Conwood Scotches, this one has a nice level of BBQ goodness. This is similar with the W.E. Garrett but seems to be a little cleaner in the scent. This is a very fine dry snuff with a very satisfying nicotine content….. ”
Thanks to Troutstroker.

Superior:
“Superior is an all around sniffer that’s bone dry and fine with great smoky BBQ’d flavor and the kick typical of the variety. Not quite the hard-hitter as Rooster but newbies might want to remain seated the first time around……”
Thanks to ojthedog.

Wild Cherry:
“The cherry is a very good sweet snuff. A lot less sweet than the swisher strawberry. Its sweetness is on par with red seal, not overdone.”
Again, Thanks to Troutstroker.

Checkerberry is also now back in stock.
“Wonderful Checkerberry scent with a good nicotine hit. Very enjoyable!”
Author unknown.

History of Snuff and Tobacco in Montgomery County

Conwood Company has gone thru hard times and good times, learning, adjusting and prospering.  Conwood has in Garrett Snuff, the oldest continuous trade-mark in the United States, one of ten trade-marks recorded on October 25, 1870, the first day the US Patent Office began granting trademarks.

The origin of the company known as Conwood stretches back over two hundred years.  As a comparison, The Leaf Chronicle reports that it was first published in 1808, while Garrett Snuff had already been in production for 26 years.  The history of Conwood encompasses the beginning of the American commerce after the Revolutionary War.  The taste for tobacco developed by the scavenging soldiers during the Civil War and the need for smokeless tobacco in defense plants during World War II led the demand for tobacco.

The history of Conwood tells us a lot about people, unusual people and ordinary people in unusual circumstances:

• William E. Garrett, Jr. sold the 113-year-old Garrett Snuff for one dollar.
• James B. Duke worked so hard to develop his company and yet was the only man who knew how to dismantle this tobacco industry.
• Mrs. Henrietta Garrett’s will was never found yet the 26,400 would-be heirs, including the State of Pennsylvania and the United States Government, pressed claims to the $21,000,000 Garrett Snuff fortune.
• The Night Riders burned out their neighbors for dealing with the tobacco trust.

Locally, brothers Victor and Whitey Albright were an important part of Conwood from the 1930’s thru the 1980’s.  It is reported that Martin Condon asked the business teacher at Clarksville to name her brightest business student and she replied Victor Albright.  Mr. Condon hired Mr. Albright when he graduated from high school and he rose through the ranks to achieve the position of Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of Conwood from 1952 thru 1975.   Whitey Albright served as Office Manager of Conwood for many years.  Mr. Joe Gootee, father-in-law of Mr. Sam Winters, was a supervisor of manufacturing for many years.

The Activity Building and the Sanctuary of the First Baptist Church were constructed on property that was conveyed to the church by the American Snuff Company.  The leaf department offices of the snuff plant were located where the Activity Building is now.  During the Civil War, the leaf department buildings were used as a hospital for the wounded. During the time of the Night Riders, guards armed with “W.W. Greener” shotguns and Winchester rifles were posted on the roofs of the warehouses when the Night Riders threatened to burn down the building.  On Bended Knee provides many details of this turbulent history of the tobacco industry.

A Timeline:
1782
John Garrett II established the first Garrett snuff mill on Red Clay Creek in Delaware.

1824
George Garrett entered the family business and changed the firm’s name to Levi Garrett and Sons.  Levi Garrett dies in 1833 and George Garrett sold his shares to William Garrett.

1857
William Garrett brought his sons, Walter and William Jr., into the business and changed the name to W. E. Garrett and Sons.

1890
By 1890, a determined young man was a rising player in the tobacco industry.  Eight years after he entered the cigarette industry, Buck Duke merged with four other manufacturers to form the American Tobacco Company.  He entered the snuff business with reckless abandon, selling products at a loss to drive other companies out of business.

1895
Walter and William Garrett broke with tradition in that neither son had an interest in the snuff production.  William E. Garrett Jr. sold W.E. Garrett & Sons to Henry Moore, George Wilson and John Gilmore, three employees, for one dollar.  The business that had grown and prospered through the Garrett family for 113 years was no more.  Within three years this company became the cornerstone of the Atlantic Snuff Company.

1900
Mr. Duke formed the American Snuff Company which included the George W. Helme Company, the Atlantic Snuff Company, Stewart Ralph & Company, Bruton & Condon and Ivy Owen and Company.

While Mr. Duke prospered, the tobacco farmers did not.  In 1904, farmers in Western Kentucky and Tennessee formed the Dark Tobacco District Planters Association to do something about low tobacco prices paid for tobacco grown in the Black Patch.  Those farmers who did not join the Association were called “Hill Billies” and continued to do business with the American Tobacco Company.  Members of the Association formed a group called the Possum Hunters Organization, the purpose of which was to intimidate the “Hill Billies”.  As most of the intimidation occurred at night, the Possum Hunters became known as the Night Riders .  They numbered in the thousands; their greatest activity was in 1906-1909, farmer against farmer.  Factories and barns were burned, plant beds scraped of plants, men were beaten and killed, including one father of 11 children in Henrietta.
In spite of the violence, little, if anything was accomplished.

1907
Teddy Roosevelt, the “Trust Buster” and the United States Government filed suit against the American Tobacco Company for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.  Four years later, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Buck Duke’ tobacco empire.  The Circuit Court of Appeals, which was assigned to complete the dissolution, was forced to rely on Mr. Duke himself for specifics of the organization.

The American Snuff Company was divided into three smaller companies: a smaller new American Snuff Company, Weyman and Burton (now U.S. Tobacco) and George W. Helm.  The division was based on specific brands.  Martin J. Condon had first choice and chose Garrett Snuff.  Mr. Condon and the American Snuff Company had manufacturing plants in Memphis and Clarksville with prizing and storage facilities in Hopkinsville and Mayfield, KY, and Springfield, TN.

1912
American Snuff Company moved its offices from New York to Memphis.
It prospered under the direction of Martin J. Condon and James Harwood thru the 1930’s.  The Wall Street Journal had called the American Snuff Company “depression proof” but the business could not totally escape the hard-times of the depression.  Snuff manufacturing was almost 41,000,000 pounds in 1930 but in 1932 had dropped to 36,000,000 pounds.  Being responsible and forward thinking, Martin Condon decided to broaden the product lines to include sweet flavored snuff, a decision that resulted in sales surpassing the pre-depression times.  The men of American Snuff made nothing but snuff from 1912 thru 1952, constantly improving and refining the production methods to reduce labor, energy and transportation cost.

1940
World War II boosted its sales as “smokeless tobacco” was the only tobacco products allowed in defense plants and the Britons used it during the blackouts.  After World War II, sales again declined and the American Snuff Company was again determined to adapt and grow, this time by diversification.
1950
The American Snuff Company purchased Taylor Brothers Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, NC.  Taylor Brothers manufactured twist, plug and loose leaf chewing tobacco allowing the American Snuff Company to gain wider distribution and increased sales.

1957
The American Snuff Company purchased Hot Shot insect repellent.  The company was able to expand sales of Hot Shot from $400,000 in 1957 to almost $4,000,000 in only two years.

1961
The American Snuff Company purchased Blevins Popcorn Company.  In 1948, Blevins started the “Presidential Popcorn Poll”, allowing movie goers to request a Republican or Democrat box for their popcorn.  The popcorn poll predicted Truman would defeat Dewey, a result that surprised more sophisticated pollsters.  For 20 years, the popcorn poll accurately predicted the results of the presidential elections.

1966
As the American Snuff Company was now a diversified company, the name was changed to Conwood Corporation.

1967
Conwood purchased the Scott Tobacco Company of Bowling Green, KY, a maker of hand-rolled twist tobacco.

Along the way, Conwood developed the foil pouch used in packaging loose leaf chewing tobacco, produced a popcorn package that served as it’s own popper and pioneered the first plastic cans used in packing moist snuff.

Conwood paid dividends every year from 1901 through 1985 when the company was purchased by the Pritzker family of Chicago for $408 million and taken under private ownership.

2006
In April, 2006, Reynolds American entered into an agreement with the Pritzker business interest to purchase Conwood Company, L.P. for 3.5 billion dollars which will return Conwood to a publicly held status.

Buildings
Warehouse F was the original building of the Stewart Ralph Snuff Company, built in 1900 and the Orgain-Manning lumberyard was directly across the street.

The Cure Building was built in 1904, the Smith Warehouse in 1909 and the Rehandling House in 1911. The Smith warehouse was demolished in 2004 to allow for the construction of a new 43,00 square foot manufacturing facility.

In 1982, Conwood purchased the old A & P Store to house a threshing and cutting line for moist snuff.

We thank Bryce S. Sanders, Jr. for providing this synopsis of the tobacco history.  He is well prepared for doing this in that he began working in the snuff industry in May of 1972 and now serves as Manager of Clarksville Branch of Conwood Company, LP.

How to Use Nasal Snuff

Snuff is a form of finely ground smokeless tobacco predominantly enjoyed by the English aristocracy of the 18th century. It is an arguably healthier alternative to smoking for the user, and undeniably healthier for those in your company as you are not subjecting them to second-hand smoke while snuffing. Here is how to properly take (and enjoy) nasal snuff!

Steps

1. Purchase a tin of snuff. There are many different flavors cheaply available. Select one that has a flavor that you think you’ll appreciate, or if you’re unsure, tobacco-flavored ‘plain’ snuff is available.
2. Make sure you’re indoors or in a very well-sheltered area and take out your snuff tin/box. Tap on the lid a few times to settle the snuff evenly in your container to help avoid spilling, and slowly and carefully take the lid off your container.
3. Take the snuff. There are more than a few widely accepted methods of taking snuff. One of the most common is to simply take a pinch of snuff between your thumb and forefinger and sniff it sharply into one of your nostrils, and then into the other. It is important to remember that the snuff should only be SNIFFED into the nose, not snorted. The snuff needs to remain in front of your nose, it is not intended to go into your sinuses or throat.
   1. Other methods include tapping some snuff onto the back of your hand, onto the depression formed above the wrist near the base of your thumb when one stretches the thumb, or in the slight depression between your thumb and forefinger.
   2. Some snuff-takers prefer to use a “bullet,” a dispenser that can be held directly to the nostrils. This device eliminates the need to carry around a tin and the potential mess of dipping your fingers into it.
   3. Experiment and see what is the most comfortable way to take it for you.
4. Pause to appreciate the gentle aroma and sense of refreshment unique to taking snuff!

Tips

• Do not resist the urge to sneeze. It will most likely happen, but resisting it will only decrease the enjoyment you obtain from using snuff. The urge to sneeze when using snuff will pass the more you use it.
• Take care in how you sniff. The effects of accidentally snorting the snuff into your sinuses or throat can be very unsettling, and snuff should never have to be uncomfortable. Do not be discouraged if you don’t get it right the first time – with practice, the sharp but shallow sniff needed to get the snuff into the front of your nose but no further becomes second nature.
• Keep in mind that the use of nasal snuff is often accompanied by increased nasal discharge. It is a good idea to have a handkerchief or tissue close to hand to take care of this increased discharge.

Warnings

• Snuff is still a form of tobacco and therefore contains nicotine and is thus addictive. And while it is generally accepted as less harmful than smoking (and obviously less harmful to those around you than smoking) there are still carcinogenic (cancer) risks. Snuff is healthier than smoking, but it is by no means a risk-free alternative and not something you should do if you intend to live forever.

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19TH C HORN SNUFF MULL. 19th century Scottish horn snuff mull, horn with silver and faceted stone lid, scrolled dark horn with lighter markings, applied shield shaped decoration (not engraved) hinged lid with repousse thistle decoration, capped with faceted pale champagne colored stone.

19TH C TREEN BOX. 19th c. treen box, shoe form snuff box with sliding lid, brass embellished tacking highlights

19TH C SHOE FORM SNUFF BOX. 19th c. papier mache shoe form snuff box, hinged lid with hand painted butterfly , bird and leaf decoration

One of the finest surviving pieces of English enamel work and the most remarkable English piece commemorating a tontine is a snuffbox by Jasper Cunst and the great enameller George Michael Moser, London, 1764-65. A tontine was a financial arrangement whereby a group of people invested capital and received the interest as income which increased with the death of each participant, the residual capital going to the last surviving member, in this case Sir Charles Price whose arms are engraved on the cover. The interior of the rim of the gold box is set with an enamel plaque depicting a wooded glade with a mourning figure and Time flanking a memorial inscribed with the names and dates of death of the members of the tontine. Another extravagant gold box decorated with enamel scenes of Don Quixote attributed to Moser has a hinged base which opens to reveal a watch with a white face set with emeralds and bordered by rubies.