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Among the various supply shortages plaguing the fishing fleet in the season of 1945, as World War II wound down, was Copenhagen "snoose." Undoubtedly all of the Southeast halibut fishermen felt the effects of the shortage, but it was Petersburg's fishermen who complained the loudest. That city's newspaper said that Petersburg probably consumed a larger tonnage of snoose per capita than any town in the western hemisphere. The fleet was due to sail May 1 for the annual "halibut-snatching" that lasted 60 to 70 days, but the fishermen discovered that the manufacturers, mostly located in Chicago, had been put under a 10-day embargo: this meant that snoose was not being shipped.

The Seattle fleet owners put in anguished calls to their local senator, Warren G. Magnuson. The latter galloped into action. He yipped and howled around the War Production Board so lustily that the embargo was lifted and rush shipments of snoose were sent to the halibut fleet.

Thus, the fleet sailed on schedule, and as the Petersburg paper said, "The hardy Norsemen, facing into the sunrise, no longer were chanting in mournful numbers: 'No snuff, no fish.'" The reporter added, "Why the Scandinavian fishermen require Copenhagen, snuff, snoose, Scandihoovian-dynamite, Swedish conditioner-powder, or Swedish brain-food, as it is variously called, is something of a mystery to non-Nordics."

Halibut fisherman Ludvig Akslen of the Coolidge said, "You put it under your tongue like this or you just keep it in your mouth and chew it. But you never sniff it, not if you're a fisherman you don't!"

Said another man: "It's a habit. You got to do something at sea, so you might as well chew snoose. It doesn't go out in the wind and rain like a pipe or a cigarette."

Copenhagen brand was the most popular form of snuff after it was introduced in 1822. I looked for the words "snoose" and "snuff" in the dictionary to find out the difference between the two words. Snuff originally was powdered tobacco inhaled through the nostrils. It was very popular among women in the early part of the 1800s and was carried in a small "snuff box." Finally I found the other spelling for snoose is "Snus." It was manufactured and mainly consumed in Sweden and Norway.

Chewing tobacco is a smokeless product and is one of the oldest ways of consuming tobacco leaves and originally used by North and South American natives. Its use was almost universal among the American population during the civil war, on the frontiers, and among farmers, ranchers, fishermen and loggers. It was also produced in twist, the oldest form where leaves were twisted into a rope when green. This form was one of the trade items for the Hudson's Bay Company and probably was available at its forts at Wrangell and Taku Inlet. Another form was plug tobacco that was pressed into a molasses base and also may have been traded.

Loose leaf or "scrap" chewing tobacco is the most popular form. At a market in Wrangell, I asked to see the round cans of chewing tobacco. Copenhagen comes in "snuff" and "long" (loose leaf). Several other brands are available in both forms plus "short." Some have flavors such as apple, orange liqueur, cherry, etc. I bet those old fishermen wouldn't have put up with that!

Not one, however, uses the word "snoose" or "snus." Neither snoose or snus are in dictionaries. I finally found the word "snus" on Wikipedia and learned it is chewing tobacco that included 50 percent water, salt, and sodium carbonate. Then it was fermented. Reynolds Tobacco plans to test the original formula for "snus" in the U.S. market.

Pat Roppel, a 50-year resident of Southeast Alaska, is the author of numerous books about mining, fishing, and man's use of the land. Her most recent book is "Striking It Rich, the History of Gold Mining in Southern Southeast Alaska." She and her husband Frank, now living in Wrangell, continue to explore Southeast's history in their boat, the Twinkle.

Editor's note: Pat Roppel's history column will run every other week.