r/todayilearned • u/Super_Goomba64 • 2d ago
TIL that in the United Kingdoms Parliament, there is a box of snuff (smokeless tobacco) that's been around since the 1600s, it is free for government officials to use, but the last time it was used was 1989. It is still kept to this day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_snuff_box?wprov=sfla149
u/0ttr 2d ago
Touring Westminster and parliament is one of the best tours of many, many great tours to take in London. Walking through the bombed out doorway to enter the chamber is sobering.
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u/OriginalAcidKing 1d ago
Walking into a room full of bombed Lords is also a treat.
(Bombed, in this case, meaning drunk.)
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u/reddit455 2d ago
we have candy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Desk
The candy desk has been a tradition of the United States Senate since 1965, whereby a Republican senator who sits at a particular desk near a busy entrance keeps a drawer full of candy for members of the body. The current\)when?\) occupant of the candy desk is Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin.\)citation needed\)
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u/Easytrucks 2d ago
Senators get a furniture budget of $40,000 and a candy drawer. Constituent tax dollars to provide themselves comfort.
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u/ColdArson 2d ago
I mean, the candy drawer is coming out of their existing salary. It's not like they get to write off the kitkats as a work expense
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u/illogictc 1d ago
The candy desk is often stocked by donations from confectioners from the senator's home state. So it's neither from their salaries or from taxpayer funds.
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u/Super_Goomba64 2d ago
I was gonna post that too but automod yells at you if you post anything current politics
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u/thisisredlitre 2d ago
I'd argue the candy desk is apolitical as it hasn't affected any governance (that we know of at least)
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u/jugol 2d ago
The problem is trying to argue with automod. Contrary to popular belief and what its name suggests, AI is not the sharpest tool in the shed
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u/BoskoMondaricci 2d ago
"...It was lookin' kinda dumb with its finger and its thumb in the shape of an ... well, not an L really, because AI isn't good at spelling ... and the finger and the thumb look weird now that I look at it."
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u/LtSoundwave 2d ago
Markwayne Mullin has an “F” rating from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes.
Bet it’s some weak ass candy.
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u/Roastbeef3 2d ago
Which is ironic, because for a republican state Oklahoma has incredibly lax marijuana laws. It’s medical but getting the medical card is basically “shall-issue”. There are more dispensaries in Oklahoma than in California
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u/Capt_Hawkeye_Pierce 2d ago
The O'Douls of candy.
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u/thisguypercents 2d ago
Probably those Necco Candy Wafers.
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u/member_member5thNov 2d ago
Those are from Massachusetts and Cambridge specifically so probably not.
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u/Dennyisthepisslord 2d ago
Since 1965...
America really doesn't do old
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u/marker_none 2d ago
Yeah we do! Have you seen our politicians? A lot of them would be calling the candy drawer kid if it were a person.
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u/ErwinSmithHater 2d ago
Why do Europeans feel the need to be so fucking pretentious every chance they get?
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u/Dennyisthepisslord 2d ago
When you are trying to say "look at this old stuff" and it's within living memory it isn't pretentious to laugh at that...
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u/ErwinSmithHater 2d ago
If you owned a car from 1965 you’d say it wasn’t old because my grandpa had a poster of it as a kid? Your ghoulish looking king is 76 but he’s not old because I happen to be alive at the same time as him? Seinfeld predates reunified Germany but that’s not an old show? Speaking of that the present day borders of the US are older than most European countries, so if you look at it that way your country isn’t old either.
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u/Dennyisthepisslord 2d ago
If your trying to talk about traditional things dating back to the 60s is laughable. It's like saying the Superbowl is a traditional old school event because it started in the 60s
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u/GodsThirdToe 1d ago
Wow, this led me to learn that snuff is snorted. Had no idea that could be done with tobacco. Seems like it would feel terrible going down
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u/382Whistles 23h ago
A tiny tiny bit will clear clogged sinuses almost like a nasal spray or Vick's vapor inhaler. An old guy I knew used the stuff a lot, so I used it a couple of times to clear myself out. It burns, but I could breath ok for a pretty long time.
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u/maybeinoregon 2d ago
I wonder if it was the snuff you sniff, or snuff you put between the cheek and gum?
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u/Super_Goomba64 2d ago
The kind you snort
Dip is where u put it in your cheek
Or snus that's like swedish tobacco packet
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u/maybeinoregon 2d ago
Ah, thanks.
Fwiw, Copenhagen says snuff right on the can, but most use it as a cheek gum product.
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u/plastic_alloys 2d ago
Dip never caught on in the UK as far as I’m aware. The new tobacco-free nicotine anus pouches are getting popular though
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u/Superssimple 2d ago
There is actually a bit of an epidemic of dip being used by British footballers. They call is snus as it was brought in initially by Scandinavian players.
Very niche group but it might spread
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u/plastic_alloys 2d ago
I’m sure most of them are using the nicotine pouches with no tobacco though
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u/Fishboy_1998 22h ago
Snuff- a dry powder tobacco you snort Snus- pasteurised tobacco pouches goes in the upper lip can swallow spit (general) is majorly popular in Scandinavia Dip- long cut fermented tobacco (Copenhagen skol grizzly) put in your bottom lipped and you spit your spit Chew- long whole leaves fermented out in the cheek and you softly chew with your back teeth produces the most spit and you have to spit (redman) Smokeless Pouches- powdered extracted nicotine in a pouch goes in your upper lip you don’t need to spit and comes in more flavor (zyn)
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u/arrbez 2d ago
I love that one day some asshole is going to use it to make a point, and it’ll be like their crossing of the Rubicon
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u/warriorscot 2d ago
That the new MPs don't just for the sake of it is a bit of a political comedy. They clearly want to to say they did, but don't because it'll look silly, but sometimes being a little silly is entirely human.
I blame the daily mail for sucking the fun out. It's like when they got rid of the tea carts in government offices, it was a silly privilege... but it did make people's lives easier and it did keep them at their desks and working so I daresay it actually reduced productivity.
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u/cagewilly 2d ago
It's absurd that nobody has used it in that time. Presumably someone in parliament is a nicotine addict. It's a tradition and not using it is silly.
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u/WhiskeyKid33 1d ago
When the world comes to an end by way of our own ineptitude. There will be some member of parliament that opens this box while the nukes are flying. Because of this comment, I will be thinking about this box and member of parliament when it happens, even if only briefly. Being a human is weird asf
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u/OriginalAcidKing 1d ago
What grinds my gears is that the Doorman is supposed to keep it stocked using his own money. What a bunch of cheap bastards. If I were the Doorman, and had to keep a fresh stock of “snuff” that nobody had used in 35 years, I’d secretly replace it with cocaine, and use it to keep me awake while manning the door.
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u/inderf 2d ago
at first reading i thought this was some ancient ass tobacco but i guess they probably refilled it at some point