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 goo ...

of powdered substances. In the ancient time the spoons were used to ingest psychotropic substances, in the 18th century −

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 20th century −

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

(the spoon is thus also known as a cocaine spoon or coke spoon). Some local statutes in the US treat this spoon as

drug paraphernalia "Drug paraphernalia" is a term to denote any equipment, product or accessory that is intended or modified for making, using or concealing drugs, typically for recreational purposes. Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamin ...

, defining it as a spoon that is too small and thus "unsuited for the typical, lawful uses of a spoon". 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 ...

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 psychoactive preparations 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 combination of a little vial and a snuff spoon that acted like a

stopper Stopper may refer to: * Bung, a plug used to stop the opening of a container ** Laboratory rubber stopper, a specific type of bung * Plug (sanitation), used to stop a drainage outlet * Defender (association football), in soccer (association footba ...

was a precursor of the

snuff-box 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 ...

. By the end of the 19th century the snuff spoons went completely out of use. Stopper, snuff bottle (AM 687402-2)

In the US,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

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.

In popular culture

* Youngblood Priest, the protagonist of the 1972 film '' Super Fly'', is depicted as wearing a coke spoon necklace.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{cite book , date = 1911 , last = Jackson , first = Charles James , title = An Illustrated History of English Plate, Ecclesiastical and Secular: In which the Development of Form and Decoration in the Silver and Gold Work of the British Isles, from the Earliest Known Examples to the Latest of the Georgian Period, is Delineated and Described, Volume 2 , publisher = "Country life," limited , pages = 470–537 , oclc = 1074655150 , chapter=The spoon and its history: Its form, material, and development , chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BEI1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA470 Cocaine Drug paraphernalia Tobacco accessories Spoons