Prosperous Snuff

All snuff users are divided into two groups: 1) those who snuff snuff into their nostrils for a delightfully prolonged sneeze sensation; 2) those who place snuff between gum and cheek, leave it there for many a happy hour, sometimes chewing it, moving it about.

The U. S. snuff industry is dominated by three great companies. There is U. S. Tobacco Co. whose brand is famed Copenhagen. Last year this company earned $2,771,000, but the figure was swelled by returns from smoking tobacco including Old Briar, Dill's Best. There is George W. Helme Co. whose snuff earnings last year were $2,324,000. And there is American Snuff Co. with 1929 earnings of $2,109,000. Its leading brands are Garrett, Honest, Dental. American Snuff was formed in 1900, marched hand-in-hand with American Tobacco until 1911 when anti-trust action ordered it dissolved. As is true of American Tobacco, its chief competitors were once part of it.

No stagnant industry is the snuff trade. Sales are on the increase in the U. S. and Canada. Evidence of unimpaired snuff prosperity came last week when American Snuff voted an extra dividend of 25-c- on its 440,000 shares, long listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Greatest of snuff sales-areas is the South, consumer of 60% of the total production. For this reason, President Martin J. Condon of American Snuff told his stockholders last May that much depended on general business in the South. Negroes are the largest buyers, but many a white man in the South uses snuff. New England is another leading snuff area. Many factories forbid employes to smoke; they turn to snuff. New England sales have increased as the snuff habit has extended to younger consumers.

The Middle Atlantic States use little snuff, the Middle West is poor except for Minnesota and the Dakotas where Scandinavians live. In the Far West, field workers, shipworkers and sailors account for big sales. Little snuff advertising is done except in foreign-language newspapers. In New England mills, manufacturers give away free samples.

The users of dry snuff have dwindled and only a few are left, mostly in the South. These are fond of pointing out that Benjamin Franklin was the champion U. S. snuffer. He startled European courts by the care he used in carrying the right colored box for every occasion. In Canada, the Royal Highlanders at mess pass around a ramshorn filled with dry snuff, of which every member and guest must partake. Damp snuff is highly-ground tobacco mixed with a little salt and, later, oil of wintergreen, rose, or a similar flavor. The advantage of chewing snuff over chewing tobacco is that snuff does not form so large a cud (word used by all snuff technicians), therefore requires less expectorating, is less conspicuous.

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