Bongs: A Brief History
The glass water bong is the most iconic item of smoker culture. Descended from the hookah, the bong combines water filtration with the portability of a hand pipe. It can be taken from home to home and passed around among friends, making it a convenient tool for smoking. This is important when you consider the ritualized nature of smoking: having a lightweight smoking device is optimal for travelers who want to have some downtime.
Ancient Bongs
In the case of the Hmong people of Laos and Thailand, they didn’t even have to bring bongs with them, since their pipes were made of local bamboo. This is how the bong got it’s name: “a bamboo water pipe for smoking kancha, tree, hashish, or the hemp-plant”. While the Hmong originated the term, excavations of Russian burial mounds have shown that their ancient tribes were taking sick bong rips as well (from GOLD bongs!).
The bong was later introduced to China in the 16th century by those same tribes, where it became the most popular way to smoke tobacco. It was so popular that Empress Dowager Cixi was buried with three of them. The disparity between the Hmong and Russian quality of bongs continued during this era: the aristocrats smoked out of ornate metal bongs while the peasants smoked out of large pieces of bamboo. The metal bongs had all of the basic elements of modern water pipes: bowls, downstems, mouthpieces, and joints. The shape of the bamboo bong, a long tube with a downstem at the bottom, is still the most familiar bong design.
60's Bongs
Bong technology has stayed pretty consistent since the 16th century; there are even still smokers making bongs out of plants like bell peppers. Metal bongs, however, have mostly fallen out of favor. When the commercial bong industry arose in The West in the 1960’s, acrylic was the most common material used for bongs due its cheapness. While still common today, acrylic bongs don’t have the sturdiness of other materials used for water pipes. A less common material used during this time was ceramic. For those who don’t know, ceramic is hardened clay that’s used for things such as fine china and army equipment. While metal and plant bongs are associated with Asia, ceramic bongs are said to have originated in Africa in the 13th Century, where it was referred to as an “earth pipe” due to being made of hardened mud. They were also literally built into the ground (which makes for a great bong stand!) These pipes predate those of Asia and are closer to modern glass-blown water pipes in terms of materials. Ceramic is still used for a lot of smoking tools.
The Modern Bong
When the smoking community began to desire more advanced tools in the late 70’s, many professional glassmakers started making some of the first modern-grade smoking pipes. Glass started to become the standard for bongs, due to its sturdiness, cleanliness and its lack of possible contaminants. Glass became even more popular when artists such as Bob Snodgrass started creating heady glass pipes. Compared to acrylic and ceramic, glass is more malleable and able to be colored. This allowed previously obscure glass artists to become common names in the smoking community, since they were able to integrate their talents into functional glass water pipes. Glass artists also introduced advanced features such as percolators into bong construction.
Despite the existence of other great tools such as bubblers, glass pipes, and vaporizers, bongs are still the most common tool of smoking enthusiasts. Maybe it’s due to memories of the carefree 60s or just because it makes really smooth smoke. Either way, we look forward to how the industry will evolve.