The defeat of the Alamo was because the defenders weren't tobacco chewers. Sam Houston only won the battle of San Jacinto because he had a double plug of fine chewing tobacco in his cheek. Roadkill in Texas is the lowest in the world per capita because of all the guys spitting tobacco out of a moving pickup window on the hot asphalt detours animals from lollygagging on Texas Highways, especially Farm to Market roads. Distances up to 15 feet are possible with a pickup moving at 70 MPH. Texas groundhogs never see their shadow because ranchers blow out a ballistic formed plug of Bull Durham and hit the little vermin in their eyes as they emerge from their hole. Texas gals are the toughest women in the world due to generations of snus chewing. Faye's great uncle, a West Hill Country rancher, was the county tobacco spitting champion. He held a record of 24 feet 10.4 inches which is .1 from the world record. Faye's great auntie, married to the tobacco spitting rancher, could shoot her snus out and make the dinner bell ring louder than a church bell on a still Sunday morning, at a distance of 30 feet. She never entered any contest as she was a practical woman. She was a no-crap kind of gal. She was responsible for training the upcoming herd dogs and the pups learned never to bark back at her. One shot of processed snus hitting the pup's open mouth, reduced the toughest pup to a whimper. Texas got its name as the lone star state based on tobacco patterns. Discharged tobacco appeared as a star plastered on the side of the general store.
@Faye Fox I hope you meant snuff (snus) above and not something else that might make me wish I had not read your remembrances . I can remember rriding in the back of a pickup several times when either my dad or uncle was driving, A shower of tobacco juice was likely anytime so we hugged the other side of the cab.
Back in 1988, I stopped smoking, if a person who smokes a pack and a half a week is called "a smoker", and started using Copenhagen Snuff behind my lower lip. That was when I got my first horse. Didn't want to drop a cigarette on the horse. Turned out that Copenhagen was simple to harsh for me, so I turned to Skoal Long-Cut Straight. Just like when I smoked, did very little "dipping", but did do it. Luckily, my wife wasn't bothered by it when we met. But, in Oct 2005, while noticing some irritation inside the lower-lip area, I decided to stop "dipping" altogether. Both, wife and I, were glad I stopped. Back then, I knew a number of rodeo cowboys that used either Copenhagen or Skoal. Heck, I even seen some guys who done both, smoked cigarettes and "dipped". In tv movies and regular movies, like Yellowstone and Last, I seen actor using some brand of "dip". A lot of ball players changed from using "dip" to putting a handful of sunflower nuts in their mouth.
I was trying to quite smoking. One of my customers told me he started dipping to help him quit, so I decided to try to use dipping to quit cigarettes also. I bought a tin of cope, went through it then bought a pack of Skoal. I liked it better. I quit cigarettes but had one heck of a time quitting Skoal. And yes, I did live in Texas.
My favorite chaws were "Red Man" and "Day's Work". Faye...your Avatar pic looks like the US Marshal in Abilene instructing a Posse on tracking down rustler Bunk Henderson. Hal
There is a difference between "chew" and "dip". Redman would be "chewing", whereas, Cope or Skoal is "dip", not "chew".
A couple of years before I moved to this rural county, a Tobacco Spitting contest was part of the annual AG Fair. I told my city friends they discontinued the event when the 2008 Champion spit her teeth farther than the tobacco.
One of the most disgusting habits I've ever had the bad fortune to view. I remember a guy coming into my tattoo shop with his can of warm spit and his tobacco. I pointed to our sign that let people know that no tobacco products of any kind were allowed. He left. I was glad. I never liked tattooing morons!
The only thing more disgusting than "the habit" is their brown spittle laying around in beverage containers.
Folks, it only "disgusting" for those that aren't around those that do it. "Dip" and "chew" are still used by young and old. Actually, professional rodeo use to be sponsored by Cope/Skoal and had a big winter finals in Las Vegas each year. We went to one. Heck, I've even met a few ladies that used Skoal. Didn't bother me at all. There are ladies now that work in stockyards and as farriers that "dip".
I think some failed to notice that this thread was posted under Tall Tales and also my photo of me posing in front of the words "Genuine Bull" painted on an old barn. While there is a bit of truth to my story, especially of my Great Uncle's spitting abilities, my Great Auntie never spit as she used snus in between her bottom front jaw and lip. Her ringing the ranch dinner bell with ballistic snus was pure bull poo. Snus dissolves slowly and never require the DISGUSTING habit of spitting. This is why so many ranch ladies back in the day used snus. They could get their nicotine buzz without affecting others.
As I stated in my post, it's not nearly as "disgusting" to folks who live/work farms-ranches as it it to many big-city folks. Just one reason why big-city folks don't really get along with farmers and ranchers. Very, very different lifestyles.
My drill sergeant broke me of chewing tobacco in about the 4th week of basic. I’d stash a bit just before a company run and one time I guess I stashed more than I could chew or at least, he saw the bulge in my cheek. It cost me 25 pushups and he snagged the rest of my pouch which was expensive because I only made $63.81 a month and I couldn’t afford to lose a fairly new bag nor any more in the future. Later on when we were on break I saw the DI pull my pouch out of his back pocket and proceed to stuff his cheek full, so knowing he’d be on the lookout for more free tobacco, I quit. As an afterthought, I wish he would have liked Camel Cigarettes too.
What? I never knew that one of the reasons that big city folks don't get along with country folks was tobacco spitting. Personally, I know way more city folks that chew or dip than country folks. Also growing up I knew more bull riders that were city dwellers and tobacco chewers than country folks. Tobacco chewing is considered disgusting by just as many country folks, ranchers, and farmers as it is big city folks. I am amazed that you see the country lifestyle as being very very different from the big city concerning something like spitting tobacco. I am simply amazed how you define the ranch or western way of life by tobacco chewing, clothes sold as cowboy or cowgirl in western stores, and rodeo participation or attending Cowboy Church.