SNUFF BOX, METAL

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Overview

Metal snuff box; made of tin with writing across the lid.
Writing across the lid in a gold colour states: COMP. MENTHOL SNUFF (B.W. & Co) Prepared by, BORROUGHS, WELLCOME & Co, LONDON.

Historical information

Snuff is a powdered form of tobacco. It is snorted or "sniffed" into the nasal cavity, delivering a swift hit of nicotine and a lasting flavour if flavouring (such as menthol) is blended with the tobacco.
In the past, it was also believed to help relieve common colds and stop snoring. Today, smokeless tobacco products, including snuff, are banned from sale in Australia.
This product was in production by 1909; it was described on p.222 in a book published in that year titled 'Medicine in Antient Erin' by Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome. The entry noted, 'Menthol Snuff, Compound (B.W. & Co.) / An extremely effective and convenient combination of ammonium chloride, menthol, etc., issued in enamelled tins, after the manner of old-fashioned black and gold snuff-boxes.'

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-37-2001.269

Item type

Objects

Material

Metal

Themes

Social History

Inscriptions and markings

BORROUGHS, WELLCOME & Co, LONDON.

Contextual Information

In 1880, Silas Burroughs and Henry Wellcome, two pharmaceutical salesmen from America, started a new company in London called Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. They used mass production and proactive marketing to sell remedies and medicines throughout the UK and territories colonised by the British.
Henry Wellcome became a wealthy and prominent figure in the growth of the modern pharmaceutical industry. After his death in 1936 (Silas Burroughs had died in 1895), the company became the property of the newly formed Wellcome Trust, which used the profits to fund charitable activities supporting research related to health. (from the Wellcome Trust website)

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Links to additional resources

Wellcome Trust website

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_(tobacco)

Shire of Toodyay

Organisation Details
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