Short snorters

Before you google the term, what do you think a short snorter is?

1. A height-challenged unhappy customer
2. A mixed drink with whiskey and a pinch of salt
3. A piece of currency, or multiple examples taped together, signed by fellow airmen
4. A special type of small tank used by WWII soldiers

Well, considering this is a personal finance blog, you can probably choose the right answer from the ones I made up. 😉

A friend from church — the same guy that helped me to stave off filing an extension yet again this year — told me tonight to search this term. A “short snorter” began as a term for an alcoholic drink that was just shy of being a “snorter,” which was one that was meant to be drunk in one gulp. (So choice #2 might not be that far off.) The short snorter was served to a new airman shortly after arriving overseas. The term transferred to the numismatic realm through a concurrent ritual that basically determined who was stuck with the tab. Airmen passed around a local currency note for his colleagues to sign. Whoever had the fewest signatures on his note got to pay for everyone's drinks.

Well-traveled airmen might have a number of individual bills taped in a roll to chronicle his travels.

Short snorters have value beyond their face value, or even their numismatic value, for their historical content. and are priceless to those whose signatures appear on the bill (or their relatives).