Rare Baccy Pouch From Days of Yore ... French ....

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aussielass

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 18, 2011
513
1
I mentioned this wonderful, rare piece of smoking history in a post and someone asked for pics, so here we go.
Excuse the glossy finish on it, I had just treated it with silicone grease to preserve the rubber - I will NEVER use it, it's something I just had to have for sentimental reasons. I had a very similar one to this, it was red and didn't have the bee in the centre about 38 years ago, and have spent all those years longing for another one - in those days it wasn't tobacco I used it for. Nonetheless, it kept anything stored in it in perfect condition and was just a trendy little item you could easily pick up at any tobacconist for about $5 which was actually a hell of a lot back then come to think of it.
As I said, I've searched the world twice over physically, and spent many, many hours on the www trying to find someone, anyone, who still sells them today but, alas, it's an impossible quest. I've even emailed the French Smoker's Museum to see if they can assist!
So, here we go, my newly acquired "elephant's anus" baccy pouch that was purchased in a lot of 14 misc pouches that were all rubbish, except for this beauteous prize find .... as you see from the design of the neck, the thing folds into specific fabricated folds and closes automatically without any effort on the part of the user. Another pic shows how the rubber has pitted over the years, but overall it is still perfectly servicable and in excellent condition otherwise. The pic that looks slighly balloonish, that's because there's a little air remaining in it that I didn't squish out.
Note: If anyone has any or knows a store that sells them, I would gladly pay the $'s to get another (or more) that I can actually use ... until then, this remains locked away amongst my treasures.
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frenchbaccyrubberpouch010.jpg


 

rigmedic1

Lifer
May 29, 2011
3,896
76
Thanks for sharing. I like it, and it seems a natural for holding tobacco. It's amazing how many such items were invented for facilitating tobacco handling.

 

terry

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2011
778
1
Thanks for sharing Aussielass...that IS soooo cool.

 

spartan

Lifer
Aug 14, 2011
2,963
7
What's the signifiance of the bee on the front? Just a company logo? Was it made specifically for tobacco?

 

aussielass

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 18, 2011
513
1
Hi Spartan, yes, they were made specifically for baccy and to the best of my knowledge they were around from the early 1900's to the mid-late 70's (although stocks held then could've been quite old). When you hold one in person, the engineering & manfacture process involved in these is just mind boggling for all those years ago.
As for the Bee, the French seem to put Bees on everything - Lagouile dinner knives all have one sitting on top of the stem, soaps, decorative china, magnifying glasses, any number of things coming out of france have a sweet little Bee on them.
If the French Smoking Museum get back to me, I'll see if I can get more info on the history of them, how many brands there were etc etc.
I just noticed that in that crappy lot of throw away baccy pouches there's also a very curious flat & rather boring English one that I'll clean up & take pics of too. It's also made of genuine rubber and looks to be from the 40's - 50's.

 

ichbinmuede

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 17, 2011
643
1
Haha it really does look like an anus of some kind. :laughat:

What a fantastic little thing and such a clever design. Brilliant in it's simplicity.

 

jparsons

Lurker
May 22, 2013
3
0
I had one. Years ago. Except it was red rubber. Eventually disintegrated. Would love to find another, but I understand they're no longer made.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,648
Even when pipe smoking was in its heyday, I don't remember this design of tobacco pouch. I only remember the ones that zipped, and others that folded. I do remember coin purses that worked this way (mostly used by women within their handbags, and only men who were in today's parlance, nerds). It's a really interesting piece of design. The other classic tobacco container was the cloth bag used by sailors and others, very basic but durable.

 

jparsons

Lurker
May 22, 2013
3
0
I had one of those. It was, as mentioned, red rubber. And it did a great job keeping tobacco from drying out. Carried and used it for years and, of course, it eventually disintegrated. Probably no longer made.

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
10,074
16,177
3 posts in 3years and two of them on the same thread must be a record
Yes, but I bet it's the only thread that's ever been on this site about an "elephant anus baccy pouch".

 
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