Snuff boxes
DOWNEND resident Jenny Alcock has shared her collection of local snuff tins from the early 20th century, which she believes belonged to miners.
Snuff was made from finely-ground tobacco leaves.
Miners couldn’t smoke cigarettes or pipes when working underground, because the mines were full of gas and rock dust, which would ignite and explode if there was any spark or fire.
Instead, they took ‘twist’ tobacco, the cheapest tobacco available, which was twisted or spun into long lengths. A cheap form of hot, peppery snuff was made in this area.
Chewing the tobacco was a socially-encouraged habit, but it also helped to stop the miners’ mouths drying out from breathing in the dust-laden air.
Of course, we now know the health risks of chewing tobacco, like cancer, heart attacks and strokes, but mining was an incredibly dangerous job, with regular accidents and deaths at work, so that was the last of their worries.
Moreover, average life expectancy for everyone, not just those in dangerous jobs, was only 44 for men and 48 for women in 1900.
In fact, people today live almost twice as long as they did in 1841. Imagine if that trend continues, and people a few generations on are living twice as long as us now, to the age of 160!
As well as snuff tins, miners also took ‘snap’ tins down into the pits.
These were larger metal containers which they would carry their snap, or food in. What was eaten varied in different regions, from sandwiches in Yorkshire to pasties in Cornwall, but it needed to be carried in airtight tins to keep the coal dust and grit off them.
Jenny’s beautiful snuff tins are embossed with the owners’ names, dates and locations: Charles Hibbard, 1903, Frenchay; Fred Garland, 1901, Staple Hill; Albert Coates, 1913, Downend.
They are 7.5cm x 5cm (about 3in by 2in) in size, made of tin and polished to a shine.
Downend Community History and Art Project (CHAP) is a not-for-profit voluntary organisation that aims to create a coherent identity for Downend and Emersons Green, built around interesting or significant places, people and events from the past.
For more information, visit CHAP’s website at www.downendchap.org.
You can also contact CHAP by email at big.gin@yahoo.com or write to CHAP, 49 Overnhill Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 5DS.
Helen Rana