Griswold Tobacco Plug Cutter

[Christopher Miller]

I have a Griswold tobacco plug.  It is marked Griswold on either side but on one side the L is covered.  It might be a repair but I am not sure.  On the bottom is marked MFG BY THE GRISWOLD MFG CO ERIE PA.  It also is marked with the number 2484 S.  Can anyone tell me the approximate age and what they were actually used for and are they sought after by collectors?
Any information wil be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely
Chris Miller

[C. Perry Rapier]

Tobacco used to be sold in a twist. It was cured and candied and it was twisted into a rope. And when they sold it they sold by how much you wanted. They just cut off the amount you wanted. And if the customer wanted they could cut it into individual plugs, enough for one chew. A lot of folks bought a 'plug' of tobacco and then they cut off what they wanted with their pocket knife. If you use this kind of tobacco you either pack a knife or a pistol, or maybe both. And some people just bit off what they wanted for a chew. You can still buy tobacco like this today. You're just pulling my leg and saying you don't know how or what its used for, aren't you?  ;D

And as far as being collectible, yes they are very collectible. I have seen several in collections, or a collection of them. WAGS member John Knapp has a fine collection of tobacco plug cutters. I have a couple three. How old are they? From the 1920's and earlier I would say. Value, its about condition. Some are very ornate and worth more, some are restored, depends on how you buy them. I would say you should be able to buy an unrestored one for around a hundred dollars or so. Hope that helps.  :)

[Adam Hoagland]

[size=12]Has anybody ever figured out what company was being referred to on Griswold-cast tobacco choppers that say "S. C. W. W. Co.?"  I was looking a little on-line to try to ID companies for whom Griswold had cast 2494/2500/etc. style tobacco choppers, and most of them that I've seen were wholesale grocers.  I only own one Griswold-cast chopper myself, and it was made for a wholesale grocer out of Portland, Maine called Twitchell Champlin.  Any of the other ones that I've seen have all been from e-bay window-shopping (or, perhaps, that should be Windows-shopping...)

I know that, whoever S. C. W. W. Co. was, they were in St. Louis, and Griswold made at least two styles of chopper for them; an older style that says "TRIUMPH" on the backplate and is pictured in the blue book, I believe, and a newer style that says "ARROW" with a stylized "SC" graphic on the backplate.  They also made the same style chopper for Cupples Co., a wholesale grocer out of St. Louis, and it also said "ARROW" on its backplate, but I can't find any link between Cupples and S. C. W. W. Co., so I don't know for certain that one gave rise to the other.  It sounds like Cupples was started fresh, from its history write-ups. 

Anybody happen to know?  Thank you.[/size]

[Randy Eckstein]

Adam, I did some more digging attempting to find something on S C W W Co. in St. Louis and didn't find a direct link. However, your mention of Cupples sent me in a different direction.  It MAY have stood for something along the lines of Samuel Cupples Warehouse W? Co.  He and some partners had established a complex of 22 warehouses along the Mississippi River riverfront and railroad crossings into St. Louis, effectively controlling distribution in the area by the mid 1890's.

[John Knapp]

It is a repair on the one side.