PRESIDENT-ELECT SNIFFS SNUFF WITH THE SCOTS
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On December 1, 1920, The Washington Evening Star published a front page story on the previous night's Scot's Charitable Society* annual banquet held here in Boston.
The Society's primary guest, Vice-President elect Calvin Coolidge, reportedly "sniffed snuff**" and "sneeze(d) with the Scots." Mr. Coolidge was taking part in the revival of an old custom which was taking the place of anti-prohibition toasts.
The Star wrote that Coolidge was the first to "take a cautious pinch," and then as the horn was passed down the line "sneezes followed and handkerchiefs were...generally displayed."
Guest speaker Professor Charlton Black*** of Boston University then told the story of the old Scotchman who warned his son...
'I've been drunker on sneezum than I ever was on whiskey.'
*Scot's Charitable Society, founded in Massachusetts in 1657, is the oldest charitable organization in the Western Hemisphere. SCS provides relief to people of Scottish heritage who are in need & grants undergraduate scholarships in the Scots community.
**Snuff is a form of smokeless tobacco inhaled through the nose or placed in the mouth. It originated in the Americas but was in common use in Europe by the 17th Century. When sniffed, snuff often causes a sneeze.
***Ebenezer Charlton Black (1861-1927) was born in Scotland. ECB became an American writer, educator & professor of English at Boston University. He authored 'Minor Characters in Shakespeare'.
SOURCES
"Coolidge Sniffs Snuff, Sneezes With The Scots," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 1, 1920, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Ebenezer Charlton Black, 1861-1927," Bartleby.com, Great Books On Line, www.bartleby.com/
