I’m sitting on a bench smoking a pipe of tobacco…

Europe became familiar with tobacco and the making of pipes after the discovery of America, and this vice, which is still popular today, spread to Slovenia in the 18th century, where pipes or pipes were made mainly by small rural workshops. The largest “pipe” center was in Gorjuše nad Bohinje, where they produced the famous Gorjuše pipes, which were already mentioned in Velika pratika by Valentin Vodnik in 1795. Until the beginning of the First World War, the production of pipes was a profitable business, which was engaged in by almost half of the villages in Gorjuše, and 3,000 to 3,500 pipes were produced annually. Gorjuška fifes were of many sizes, shapes and decorations. They were carved from pear wood, and the decorative parts were made from mother-of-pearl, silver sheet or brass. In the 20th century, the trade in Gorjuska taps began to dry up, and the once widespread activity, which was an important source of income for mountain farmers, is only a form of historical memory.