A short snorter is a

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

inscribed by people traveling together on an aircraft. The tradition was started by

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n bush flyers in the 1920s and spread through the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and

commercial aviation Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

. During World War II short snorters were signed by flight crews and conveyed good luck to soldiers crossing the Atlantic. Friends would take the local currency and sign each other's bills creating a "keepsake of your buddy's signatures". The General

Hoyt Vandenberg Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954) was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. During World War II, Vandenberg was t ...

short snorter was started in June 1942 flight over the mid-Atlantic. The Harry Hopkins short snorter was collected on July 25, 1942, by an aide of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

at a London Conference. The D. Ray Comish short snorter was collected January 1943 at the

Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...

by Dixie Clipper. The

Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

short snorter was collected by him at the January 1943 Casablanca Conference as well. The General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

snorter signatures were also collected at the Casablanca Conference. The Yalta short snorter signatures were collected on February 4–11, 1945 by Steve Early at

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

, on the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Etymology

Merriam-Webster defines a short snorter as either "a member of an informal club for which a pilot, crew member, or passenger who has made a transoceanic flight is eligible"; or "a piece of paper money (as a dollar bill) endorsed by short snorters as a membership certificate for a new member." "Snort" is slang for a "mixed drink," and "short" specifies less than a full measure. According to a November 2002 article in ''

The Numismatist ''The Numismatist'' (formerly ''Numismatist'') is the monthly publication of the American Numismatic Association. ''The Numismatist'' contains articles written on such topics as coins, tokens, medals, paper money, and stock certificates. All mem ...

'', "About 100 years ago, a 'short snort' was a slang expression for less than a full shot of liquor. Pouring short snorts guaranteed barkeepers a little extra profit in each bottle. Also, drinking only a short snort allowed the imbiber to honestly point to his moderation. Years before federal aviation regulations, pilots discovered that alcohol and airplanes do not mix, and fly-boys who drank heavily did not live long. Soon, pilots jokingly were calling each other 'short snorter'."

History

The tradition is believed to have been started in August 1925 in Alaska, United States. Jack Ashcroft and other

bush pilot Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...

s started the tradition, which resulted in spreading through the United States military. When the short snorter was signed, the collector would have to produce it upon request, if not, they are bound to give the signer a drink. Short snorters sell on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

and at other auction venues. During World War II reunions, short snorters were often compared by veterans. John McGarry, executive director of the Lakeshore Museum Center in Muskegon, Michigan, said that every short snorter is "unique because every soldier's story is different."

The Short Snorter Project

In March 2009, Thomas Sparks founded The Short Snorter Project, an American

501(c)3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

tax-exempt nonprofit organized and registered in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

"for educational purposes" pertaining to short snorters. One aspect of the Project's mission is "to illuminate the Short Snorter and those associated with the tradition and provide a means to educate the general public about these artifacts brought home from the war."

Notable short snorters

General Hoyt Vandenberg short snorter

Harry Hopkins short snorter

D. Ray Comish short snorters

Averell Harriman short snorter

General George S. Patton short snorter

Yalta short snorter

Other short snorters

; Short Snorter signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt It was signed by Franklin Roosevelt and various key advisors. A Fiji 5 shilling note is another example of a short snorter owned by

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and signed by Maj. Robert Arnoldus. This same short snorter was later signed by Col. Ed Whitcomb, another of the first class of celestial navigators, class 40-A, taught by Charlie Lunn of Pan Am airlines in Florida. That first class also included celestial navigator 2Lt Louis Gustav Moslener, Jr, one of the first American casualties of WW-II when the first bombs fell on Hickam Field, 7 Dec 1941. ;Marlene Dietrich short snorter The actress

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

had a short snorter consisting of 83 pieces of currency signed by more than 1,000 dignitaries including Irving Berlin, Ernest Hemingway, and George S. Patton. This short snorter was sold at auction for $5,200 on November 7, 2017. ; First Experimental Aircraft Association short snorter The first short snorter in

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

(EAA) history was signed by founders

Paul Poberezny Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting hom ...

and Stan Dzik and presented to Robert D. Blacker on February 14, 1958, at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, in order to commemorate Mr. Blacker's creating the organization's first junior chapter, his co-founding of Project Schoolflight, and his building of both the "Spirit of Cascia" Baby Ace and the

EAA Biplane __NOTOC__ The EAA Biplane is a recreational aircraft that was designed by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States and marketed as plans for home-built aircraft. Design and development A preliminary design was produced for ...

airplanes.

Space-flown snorters

Numismatic souvenirs have accompanied astronauts on early

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in o ...

s. Mercury astronauts carried small light-weight mementos on their missions, often in the form of US coins or banknotes. On the first

sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

flight (

Mercury-Redstone 3 Mercury-Redstone 3, or ''Freedom 7'', was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an as ...

Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...

carried with him four one-dollar silver certificates which were subsequently signed by him, other Mercury astronauts, and support staff. John Glenn, piloting the first manned U.S. orbital spaceflight

Mercury-Atlas 6 Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the first crewed American orbital spaceflight, which took place on February 20, 1962. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn and operated by NASA as part of Project Mercury, it was the fifth human spaceflight, preceded by Sovi ...

, also carried several one-dollar silver certificates. Space-flown numismatic items are also known for early

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...

missions. On the first manned Gemini flight (

Gemini 3 Gemini 3 was the first crewed mission in NASA's Project Gemini and was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space. On March 23, 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young flew three low Earth orbits in their spacecraft, ...

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...

and

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

brought 50 two-dollar bills.

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Hoyt Vandenberg Short Snorter , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/Hoyt_Vandenberg.html , date=October 3, 2007 , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Averell Harriman Short Snorter , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/Averell_Harriman.html , date=October 3, 2007 , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Harry Hopkins Short Snorter , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/Harry_Hopkins_Short_Snorter.html , date=August 8, 2007 , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Son of That Mother of All Short Snorters , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/files/April_2008_CAB_Snorter_Article.pdf , date= , accessdate=March 31, 2010 , format=PDF {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=D. Ray Comish Short Snorters , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/D_Ray_Comish_Short_Snorter.html , date=September 17, 2007 , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/ , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Home Page - What is a Short Snorter? , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , publisher=The Short Snorter Project , title=Yalta Snorter from the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum , url=http://www.shortsnorter.org/Yalta_snorter.html , date= , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/museums/aom/2008-01.html , title=Short-Snorter Dollar Bill , publisher=U.S. Army Center Of Military History , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.fdrheritage.org/fdr_museum_feature_Mar05.htm , title=Franklin D. Roosevelt , publisher=American Heritage Center, Inc. , accessdate=March 31, 2010 {{cite web , first=Brian , last=McVicar , url=http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/02/short_snorter_dollar_bill_is_a.html , title=Short snorter' dollar bill is a piece of World War II history -- and mystery , work=The Muskegon Chronicle , date=February 22, 2010 {{cite web , first=Jordan , last=Travis , url=http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/03/world_war_ii_short_snorter_dol.html , title=World War II 'short snorter' dollar bill owner remains a mystery , work=The Muskegon Chronicle , date=March 6, 2010 {{cite web , url=https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/502_famoussnorters.html , work=History Detectives , title=Investigations - Short Snorter , accessdate=April 3, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.swanngalleries.com/auctions/2461-autographs , title=Autographs , publisher=Swann Auctions , accessdate=2 September 2017

External links

The Short Snorter Project
- an American

tax-exempt nonprofit focused on the history of short snorters * MIT Professo
Albert Dietz’s short snorter
signed in 1944, turned up in a box of papers his family donated to MIT upon his death in 1998. Short Snorter Project Alaska culture Currencies introduced in the 1920s Militaria United States military traditions