How to take Snuff: Snuffboxes and Snuff Handkerchiefs.................. Back to Contents
Some
(and I) take a pinch between thumb & forefinger (see
picture); others by putting a pinch in the "snuffbox": the depression
caused in the back of the hand by keeping the fingers together and stretching
the thumb.
Either way, a snuffbox is essential to keep the snuff in good condition, one never filled with more than a day's supply. Snuffboxes
are of course sought-after
collectors
items, and, if a bit old, in consequence expensive: hundreds,
even thousands of pounds.
A snuffbox
must be airtight, with a strong hinge.
So
a snuffbox is not any old box. Snuffboxes are ingenious artefacts:
the most important ingenuity that
Serviceable and cheap snuffboxes are therefore difficult to come by and easy to lose. |
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Wilsons (Sharrow) , Smiths London, and others, market a range of snuffboxes -- but they are not very cheap if you are going to lose them. |
There
are good wooden boxes (papier mache boxes used to be common but I think
unobtainable now except as antiques). Metal ones are better;
but pewter boxes should be avoided as the metal is too soft, resulting
in vulnerable hinges which are difficult to repair.
Boxes made for other purposes sometimes suit: I found, in San Francisco Chinatown, some very cheap Chinese pillboxes which do the job. But such are not easy to find: and -you must have a good box! Handkerchiefs
are
another problem for the snuff taker.
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