When it comes to depicting the image of a Zaporozhye Cossack, then one of the integral attributes of the appearance of a dashing grunt will be an extremely specific smoking pipe, which is commonly called a "cradle". A distinctive feature of this device is that, in contrast to the "classic" smoking pipe, the cradle, as a rule, has a very long pipe for smoke. The question is: why is this needed?
Akhtung: smoking is harmful to your health! Better eat lard and exercise!
Not without the help of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, today a huge number of people know for sure that the Zaporozhye Cossacks between times were not opposed to dragging on Tyutyun (Turkish tobacco) from the cradle. It was the cradle that ultimately destroyed the Gogol ataman Taras Bulba: the Cossack dropped his favorite smoking device and while looking for it in the grass, he was overtaken and surrounded by Polish soldiers. However, back to the main question: why is the Cossack cradle so long?
In fact, not only Cossack cradles had a long mouthpiece, but almost all early smoking pipes. It is enough to look at Turkish pipes from the same period to notice the striking similarities between them. And if you jump overseas and look at the American Indians, you will suddenly find that their pipes have a long (and sometimes extremely long) mouthpiece.
You need one to perform several tasks at once. Firstly, people invented matches only in the 19th century. Lighters even later. Before that, smokers had to use either a flint or light a pipe from an already diluted fire source. In both cases, it is easier and safer to light the tobacco when the pipe is long. Secondly, the length of the mouthpiece has a direct impact on the taste of the tobacco (how much the term “taste” is applicable to tobacco smoke). The long mouthpiece helps to cool the smoke better and also makes it drier. This smoke tastes much better due to cooling and lowering the concentration.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why are the Cossacks with earrings in their ears they were reluctant to enter the battle.