Subject: You know how most fairy tales start with, like, “once upon a time”?

Interviewer: Mhm.

Subject: The, uh, Korean version is, “back when tigers used to smoke.” Like cigarettes. Back when tigers would smoke tobacco basically. I don’t know the exact origin, but there are old Korean paintings depicting a tiger with like a little ancient Asian-Korean pipe. Koreans love inserting that sh*t, like so, I guess no one knows where it actually came from, but a lot of stories begin, “Back when tigers used to smoke tobacco.” Assuming they don’t anymore.

Posted by u/TawmyC in r/ProCreate (https://reddit.com/r/ProCreate/comments/w0p1u1/when_tigers_used_to_smoke_by_me_had_a_blast/)

Back When Tigers Used to Smoke: The Origin of Korea | USC Digital Folklore Archives