Two letters of your “Local” have within the past few weeks appeared in your paper ridiculing and execrating the habit of “dipping snuff.” I do not pretend to excuse or defend a practice which is of no earthly benefit to the ladies who indulge in it, although it is said that it preserves and purifies the teeth. But I should desire to know what caused the virtuous indignation of “High Private” or “Local” to vent itself of a sudden on “snuff dipping.” “Local” can see the motes in the ladies’ eye, whilst he is not aware of the beams in those of the gentlemen. Before preaching to the ladies, Mr. Local, you ought to reform the gentlemen first; but chewing tobacco is a necessity of life, whilst “dipping snuff” is a nasty, filthy habit. You are aware, Mr. Editor, that smokers find solace and comfort whilst smoking, and ladies ease their mind in the same manner by dipping snuff; it is very hard not to allow them one bad habit, whilst we gentlemen have so many…I, therefore, would suggest that all the ladies who wish to indulge in “snuff dipping” be permitted to do so peaceably and without any interference from the male population, and I am backed up by the opinion of a married friend of mine, who says the only time his wife doesn’t quarrel with him, is when she has got her tooth-brush between her teeth.
As far as “bad habits,” snuff usage by women was largely superseded by cigarette smoking by the turn of the 20th century. However, there are still a few people living, especially those with rural Southern backgrounds who may recall “Granny” sitting on her front porch with a tin of snuff and a stick in her mouth spitting brown saliva into a Mason jar. Tobacco related diseases may not have been recognized as such, or may have not been as common as today. There are some possible reasons for this; the mid-19th century smoker was not inhaling chemically treated, nicotine enhanced, and genetically modified tobacco grown in polonine enhanced soil and the wrapper was free from burn rate modifiers. Whatever the case, the broader question remains, “Would it have made a difference?”
Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from the University of North Carolina The (Charlotte). Craig served Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation.
He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy Civil War Ephemera, Currency, Bonds,
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The Unfinished (2006, 2011), Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013) and three books (soon to be four) in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.