A churchwarden pipe is a tobacco pipe with a long stem. Some churchwarden pipes can be as long as 16 inches (40 cm). In German the style is referred to as "Lesepfeife" or "reading pipe," presumably because the longer stem allowed an unimpeded view of one's book.
Such pipes were very popular as an Oriental influence from the 17th century onwards in Europe. They remained most popular in Eastern Europe, as an emblem of the "Hussars", cavalry troops with roots in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who went from Russia to France and England during the Napoleonic Wars and brought the pipes with them. It was even known as the "Hussar pipe" at the time. Engraved portraits exist of men smoking such an instrument. This long stem pipe type has its origins in the Ottoman Empire, geographically and historically.
Churchwarden pipes generally produce a cooler smoke due to the distance smoke must travel from the bowl to the mouthpiece. They have the added benefit of keeping the users face further away from the heat and smoke produced by combustion in the bowl. They are also more prone to breakage since more pressure is placed on the tenon when the pipe is supported around the mouthpiece. Long ago, churchwarden pipes were made of clay and were common in taverns, and sometimes a set of pipes would have been owned by the establishment and used by different clients like other service items (plates, tankards, etc.).
Churchwardens pipes were reputedly named after churchwardens who used to put their pipes' long stem out of the church windows so they could smoke in church.
Famous quotes containing the word pipe:
“It is not that the Englishman can’t feel—it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at his public school that feeling is bad form. He must not express great joy or sorrow, or even open his mouth too wide when he talks—his pipe might fall out if he did.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)