Snuff Shop
Berenice Abbott, 1898–1991
“Snuff shop, 113 Division Street”
New York, 1938
Berenice Abbott captured this popular tobacco shop of S. Scharlin & Son, located at 113 Division Street on the Lower East Side, on January 26, 1938. A large storefront window features the name of the establishment in English and Yiddish painted on the glass surface, but the essential advertisement appears only in Yiddish on the board positioned behind the window glass in the center of the display. This suggests that the shop mostly catered to Yiddish-speaking customers. Notably, the board proudly displays the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, which no longer had relevance at that time, apparently emphasizing the long-standing tradition of the family business.
The Yiddish text in the advertisement states: “Do you want the right strong smell of tobacco? Come inside and be convinced. Sampling is free. The best Russian snuff tobacco is manufactured here. Also French, Austrian [cigars].” The vitrine is flanked by two large ceramic bowls serving as tobacco containers, with inscriptions in Yiddish and English. The Yiddish inscription reveals the name of the owner as Shabtai Scharlin. Samples of cigars are displayed beneath the boards. A large wooden cigar-store figure dressed in tartan stands outside to the left, a box of tobacco in his hand. Peering just over the top of that box from inside is a young female employee.
Abbott paid special attention to the tartan-clad figure. In the typed notes on the back of the photograph, she added: “Sandy, the ‘Scotch Indian’ had a series of adventures since this photo was taken. Confiscated by the Manhattan Department of Borough of Works for obstructing the sidewalk, he was hauled off to the city dump in April, heartless officials paying no heed to his antiquity or authentic folk-art beauty. Rescued when his owner paid a $1.00 fine, the snuff shop figure was sold to a collector.”
The photograph is part of Berenice Abott’s collection in the “Changing New York” project.
: Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs
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