Arago: Dead Letter Office

The list of objects transferred from the Dead Letter Office to the Smithsonian Institution in 1911 included this item, identified as “one pound of snuff.” The potato-shaped package is covered with revenue stamps, which denotes the payment of tax on the snuff contained within the wrapper. No postage or address is visible on the container, but several markings for the Dead Letter Office, including a label assigning the item number 844, can be seen.