Bagombo Snuff Box Short Story Guide

In “Bagombo Snuff Box”, the reader is introduced to Eddie Laird, a World War Two Veteran who’s back in town after thirty years away. Laird visits his ex-wife, Amy, who’s now married to Harry, a “credit manager for a department store”.

Laird impresses Amy and her husband with his tales of life abroad, particularly with his accounts of his time in Bagombo, where had had “twenty-six rooms and twelve servants”. However, when Laird gives Amy a snuff box allegedly from Bagombo, his story begins to unravel. Amy’s son, Stevie, takes a look at the snuff box and begins questioning Laird’s knowledge of Bagombo, after admitting that Stevie is supposedly right about the real location of the place, Laird leaves his ex-wife’s home in shame. At the end of the story, Laird phones his wife in Levittown, Long Island, New York. Through the course of the phone call it’s revealed that Laird, instead of being a globe trotting adventurer, is involved in selling potato chips and has three children.

Bagombo

Laird impresses Amy and Harry with his tales of the high life in Bagombo. In particular, Harry begins to envy Laird’s living quarters in the place, with Laird admitting that twelve servants and over twenty rooms just couldn’t make him happy. The snuff box which Laird gives to Amy, and is allegedly from Bagombo, causes the family to doubt Laird’s story, after Steve spots the words “Made in Japan” on the bottom of the box. It seems that there’s no such place as Bagombo.

Bagombo Snuff Box Facts

• Kurt Vonnegut’s short story collection, Bagombo Snuff Box, takes its title from this tale.

Locations in Bagombo Snuff Box
Below is a list of locations mentioned in Vonnegut's short story. However, it's worth noting that I'm not 100% sure the "Cunningham Field" referred to in the story is the one now apparently in North Carolina. Any more information on this would be greatly appreciated.

United States of America
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
Cunningham Field, North Carolina
Dubuque, Iowa
Levittown, Long Island, New York

Algeria
Algiers

Canada
Klondike, Yukon

France
Paris

Indonesia
Sumatra

Iraq
Baghdad

Italy
Rome


Africa

Amazon Rainforest, South America

Bagombo

Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia & Malaysia)

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

India

Japan

Madagascar

Singapore