Give me women, wine, and snuff
Untill I cry out "hold, enough!"
You may do so sans objection
Till the day of resurrection:
For, bless my beard, they aye shall be
My beloved Trinity.
Christopher Columbus introduced tobacco into Europe after his voyage (1494-96) to South America. There he saw American Indians snuffing an unknown powder, some of which Columbus brought back to Europe, where it quickly became fashionable.
In the 16th century French Ambassador in Lisbon Jean Nicot sent snuff tobacco, popular in Portugal, to Queen of France Catherine de Medici, who suffered from migraines. And that immortalized his name. It was believed that sniffing tobacco healed migraine. At the court of Francis II of France, son of Catherine, snuff tobacco became fashionable amongst the ladies and gentlemen of the aristocracy, and at the reign of Louis XIV it was part of the court etiquette.
Aristocracy was passionate about its snuff habits and even built special rooms for storing their snuff.
Splendid noblemen used to treat each other with snuff tobacco while the containers for it were luxury items and were considered as jewelery variety, they were supposed to be handled with the utmost elegance and intended to impress. Made of silver and gold, rich in detail, adorned with precious stones, sometimes playing popular melodies while being opened, snuff-boxes rooted into the everyday life of all levels of the population and were an indispensable accessory for men and women too. Even Andersen's tin soldier in the fairy tale admired the beautiful dancer leaning against the snuff-box on the table.