Short Snorters from the 1920s and 1930s

THKCollections

Hello everyone,

I know it's a bit of a long shot, but I've been doing some personal research on the origins of short snorters and wonder if anyone has any short snorters in their possession that are from the 1920s or early 1930s. If so, would you be willing to share pictures with me?

Steve_in_Tampa

I searched here first but didn’t find much.
Then I searched a somewhat busier forum and found this. It has many pictures.
https://www.papermoneyforum.com/post/short-snorters-8614338

THKCollections

Thank you Steve! I appreciate the link and your time!

JBK

Weren't short snorters a tradition that started during WWII?

THKCollections

@JBK said:
Weren't short snorters a tradition that started during WWII?

They certainly became extremely popular, especially among the general American population, during WWII but they definitely started before then. Most people agree they started during the 1920s, by early aviators in the post-WWI era. The two major ideas are that it started among Barnstormers (one commonly told story is that Jack Ashcraft of Gates Flying Circus is responsible for starting the tradition) or among Alaskan Bush Pilots (with Joe Crosson's name being mentioned quite often).

I disagree with the Alaska Bush Pilot idea, and believe that the Barnstormers are more likely to have started the tradition (though I also disagree with the Ashcraft story, or at least some of the details).

BLUEJAYWAY

A recent newer version of Pawn Stars had a guy on with a really long connected together group of short snorters. Forgot how many feet in length.

THKCollections

Some are reportedly up to 20-40 feet long