A snuff spoon is a tiny spoon used for nasal

insufflation In religious and magical practice, insufflation and exsufflation are ritual acts of blowing, breathing, hissing, or puffing that signify variously expulsion or renunciation of evil or of the devil (the Evil One), or infilling or blessing with go ...

of powdered substances. Historically, such spoons were used for psychotropic substances in

pre-Columbian America In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European c ...

, then

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

in the 18th century, and

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

in the 20th century, hence the names cocaine spoon and coke spoon. Some local statutes in the US treat spoons that are too small and thus "unsuited for the typical, lawful uses of a spoon" as

drug paraphernalia The term drug paraphernalia refers to any equipment that is used to produce, conceal, and consume illicit drugs. It includes but is not limited to items such as bongs, roach clips, miniature spoons, and various types of pipes. Product types I ...

. These spoons are so small that they are frequently mistaken for the toy ones. The designs of the snuff spoons closely followed that of the larger ones, and thus can be used to date the

étui A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are u ...

s containing them.

History

Snuff spoons have a very long history. Archeologists found them, for example, at Chavín de Huántar site in Peru (presumably used for consumption of

hallucinogenic snuff A hallucinogenic snuff, or psychedelic snuff, is a powder prepared from plants containing psychedelic alkaloids and insufflated (snorted) to produce hallucinogenic effects. Hallucinogenic snuffs have been used as entheogens by indigenous peop ...

s of ''

Anadenanthera colubrina ''Anadenanthera colubrina'' (also known as vilca, huilco, huilca, wilco, willka, curupay, curupau, cebil, or angico) is a South American tree closely related to yopo, or ''Anadenanthera peregrina''. It grows to tall and the trunk is very thorn ...

'' more than 2000 years ago), as well as in South Africa, where a combination of a tiny comb and a little spoon had made some researchers to assume that the spoon was used as an earpick or head-scratcher. In England, powdered snuff appeared at the end of the 17th century, and quickly became popular along with the devices for its consumption. The user extracted the snuff with the spoon in the right hand, placed the substance onto the back side of the left hand, and sniffed from there. The combination of a little vial and a snuff spoon that acted like a stopper was a precursor of the snuff-box. By the end of the 19th century the snuff spoons went completely out of use. In the US,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

provides straight

swizzle stick A swizzle stick is a small stick used to stir drinks. The original swizzle sticks were created in the 18th century at a rum plantation in the West Indies using the branch of the ''Quararibea turbinata'' (also known as the "Swizzle stick tree"). ...

s to stir the coffee, while in the rest of the world a small plastic stirring spoon is used. According to Graybosch, this is due to the 1960s rumor that the spoons can be used to snort cocaine.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{cite book , last=Phipps , first=Frances , title=The Collector's Complete Dictionary of American Antiques , publisher=Doubleday Books , publication-place=Garden City, NY , date=1974 , isbn=0-385-03337-0 , chapter=Snuff Box , page=531 Cocaine Drug paraphernalia Tobacco accessories Spoons