History of the Bong
HISTORY OF THE BONG
A bong or a water pipe is an apparatus commonly used for smoking marijuana, tobacco and other herbal products. Bongs are typically constructed from glass but more recently have been constructed with silicone. A glass bong’s construction and function is similar to a hookah, albeit smaller and more portable. Essentially a bong can be made from any air-tight vessel with the addition of a cone piece / bowl and a stem (downstem). For enhanced airflow through the bong a hole is located on the lower part of the tube above the water level. This hole is initially covered when igniting the substance in the bowl and then opened to allow smoke to be drawn into the person’s lungs.
Bongs have been used around the world for centuries. One of the earliest recorded uses of the word was seen in the Thai-English Dictionary which was published in 1944. The word bong comes from the Thai word “buang”. Here it was described by the Thai people as “a bamboo waterpipe for smoking kancha, tree, hashish or the hemp plant.”
A recent discovery from 2013 in Russia found a 2400 year old bong made of gold which was used by Scythian tribal chiefs to smoke opium and marijuana. In China the use of the waterpipe was introduced in the 1500s alongside tobacco. It soon became the most popular method for smoking tobacco.
The bongs used throughout China fall under two different categories: the homemade bamboo bong that was used by commoners and country people and the more elaborate and elegant version constructed from metal which was used by merchants and nobility. These bongs were typically constructed from bronze or brass with some nobles having pieces made from silver and decorated with jewels. One Chinese regent was buried with several of her favourite bongs during the Qing Dynasty.
Glass is a natural substance that is created from cooling lava around volcanoes known as obsidian. Humans first began blowing glass and using glass tools from as far back as 2500 BC. This glass was typically used for making jewellery, specifically beads. Techniques for blowing glass improved during the Roman era into the Hellenistic Period when the “millefiori” style was developed. This was able to produce unique and distinctive mosaic markings on the glass products, pottery and beads. Millefiori is Italian for “thousand flowers” and was lost completely by the 18th century but at the turn of the 19th century it made a resurgence, leading to different styles that you see used on bongs today.
Excavations in Ethiopia discovered bongs that dated as far back as 1100 to 1400 BC. These bongs used ducts and bottles that were constructed from primitive pottery and animal horns.
As tobacco became ever-increasingly popular across the world, the bong industry flourished on the Silk Road for many centuries. The glass industry also flourished during this period. Glass blowing techniques continued to improve over the years with more intricate and elaborate shapes being produced with stronger and more resistant glass. The biggest advancement to the glass bong industry came about in the mid to late 20th century with the glass bong renaissance of the 60s and 70s. One of the most influential people during this time was Bob Snodgras who designed many different glass bongs as well as discovering a process called fuming. Fuming involves heating small pieces of metal, most commonly 24K gold or .999 silver, until they vaporise and then placing glass into the vapor stream to cover it in the vaporised metal. This new technique created a glass revival in the modern era.
During the 1990s glass bongs began to be branded and sold around the world, with growing popularity in the American market. Since then the rise of bongs, especially glass bongs, has continued to grow due to improvements in glass blowing techniques as well as the legalisation of marijuana around the world. Today it is commonplace for bongs to be fitted with percolators and other mechanisms that can improve the smoking experience. A percolator’s purpose is to cool the smoke that passes through it to make the smoking experience smoother and less harsh on the smoker’s throat and lungs. It also works to provide better filtration such that no small ash particles from the bowl or cone piece pass through into the user’s mouth. We are now seeing many different types of percolators used with bongs with each one having a slightly different effect.
The future of bongs is bright. There is now an explosion of innovation and design in the glass bong industry with new and unique configurations popping up all the time. Silicone bongs have increased in popularity due to their durable, shatter-proof and foldable nature which makes them perfect for cleaning and transporting. We are also seeing more interest in dab rigs and devices that allow for converting regular bongs into dab compatible bongs. Only time will tell what fancy new innovation will come along and you better believe we are excited to see what it will be.