Origins: Pearson's Red Top Snuff

Subject: Origin: PEARSON'S RED TOP SNUFF
From: Jacob Bloom
Date: 08 Dec 99 - 06:06 PM

Can anyone identify the singer/songwriter I saw once, 30 years ago?

It was the summer of 1968. The hippies who had been in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco the year before had moved to Boston, which made Boston Common the "happening" place to be. A singer-songwriter, who said that she was on the way back from a folk festival to her home in Massachusetts, stopped by the Common and sang some of her songs. These included

"George, The Peculiar Cat"

Geese and ducks are both unrulier
Pigs they are piggier, and mules are mulier
But no animal is more peculiar
Than George, the peculiar cat

"It's Then I Start Thinking Of You"

But sometimes, when I laugh at the monkeys
And seals that I see in the zoo
And there's no one to share in my laughter
It's then I start thinking of you

And "Pearsons Red Top Snuff"

Oh, a cobbler's pipe can steady your nerves when things are going rough
But I prefer a pinch of Pearson's Red Top Snuff
Instead of chewing and spitting vile tobacco juices
I prefer the snuff that's made in Massachusetts

(chorus)
Carefully scented with wintergreen
Makes your mouth feel fresh and clean
Stiffens your upper lip
Softens your lower lip
Not too much, but enough
You'll never get cancer of the lung
For it only touches your mouth and tongue
Pearson's Red Top Snuff

If you want to be sure the snuff you buy is Pearson's Red Top
Look for the snuff in the bright red can
On the front of the can is an old fashioned girl, I don't know who she is
Maybe she was an earlier day Pearson's fan

(repeat chorus)

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Does anyone know who this person was?

Subject: RE: Who wrote Pearson's Red Top Snuff?
From: Paul S
Date: 08 Dec 99 - 10:25 PM

Pearson?

Subject: RE: Who wrote Pearson's Red Top Snuff?
From: Jacob Bloom
Date: 09 Dec 99 - 05:45 PM

I doubt it, although she did say that the snuff was made in her home town.

I can't be the only living folkie who ever saw this person. Her impromptu stand on Boston Common cannot have been the only time she ever performed out - her delivery was far too polished for that. At a minimum, she must have done lots of open mikes.

I sent this question to Shelley Posen at Sing Out the other month, and it was published in the Songfinder column, but nobody responded. I suppose I can live without knowing - but it's a nice song, and she deserves credit for it.

Subject: RE: Who wrote Pearson's Red Top Snuff?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 10:11 PM

I gather from this PDF file that the singer-songwriter for "george the Peculiar Cat" might be Vera Johnson. Does the name ring a bell with anyone?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Who wrote Pearson's Red Top Snuff?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 02:38 PM

Pearson's Red Top Snuff was made in Byfield, Massachusetts. Pictures of the tins can be seen on the web sites of various antique dealers.

According to this page, "today Byfield is a village located within the boundaries of the town of Newbury, Massachusetts."

Subject: RE: Origins: Who wrote Pearson's Red Top Snuff?
From: Jacob B
Date: 08 Dec 05 - 01:11 PM

Mystery solved! Thank you, Joe and Jim. I read through the fifteen page autobiography, and found mention of the Boston Common concert that I heard. I also found mention of most of the songs I remember hearing at it. I see that the song I called "It's Then I Start Thinking of You" (from the last line of each verse) is really titled "It's Great to be Independent" (from the first line of the chorus.)

Instead of returning to her home in Massachusetts, she was a Canadian singer on her way to visit relatives in Rowley, Massachusetts. Rowley is next to Byfield, where the snuff was made, so it fits.

I'll have to look up what other information I can find about Vera Johnson. Thanks again!