What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

what were bongs like way back when?

2 Legal Co

Active member
Veteran
shit I used to actually use part of my trombone from elementary school. the Trombowl....

peace
jip

I knew those 'slush pumps' were good for something. :laughing:

Interesting you should mention that..... I may have some slide parts in a bucket here...... and I know I have a trumpet mouthpiece somewhere. :woohoo:
 

2 Legal Co

Active member
Veteran
I think the first bong I hit, was a 'beaker'. IIRC Then another of the guys just back from Nam pulled out a bamboo one. Said Papa San was a friend, who made it. Had a hammered brass? maybe bowl, could've been copper just as well.

Had one of those AquaTainers in black, somewhere in the late 70s? maybe.

Lost a decent Hookah, in a 'firesale'. Took an Oz. to fill the red clay bowl, and at least 10 'hitters', to keep the smoke from going stale. We found that around 12-15 people could keep it going fairly well. It had 4 hoses and took a full bottle of wine to prime it. :laughing:

Thx for the memories. Good days are here again! :biggrin:
 

xmobotx

ecks moe baw teeks
ICMag Donor
Veteran
good as any day to get nostalgic about bongs in this old thread

1st time i actually got high from smoking was in a friends smoke-out shed ~seems like it was a candle in there cause no power but; he had made an alka-seltzer bottle bong {the middle size ~probably about fit a roll of quarters in it}and had some tubing like 4 feet long ~so; it was the central bowl/stem through the lid w/ a 2nd hole for the hose ~He would hold the alka seltzer bottle and manage loading it {w/ leaf} while passing the hose around to me him and my bro

my 1st bong copied that design w/ a little {middle size} instant folgers jar but only about 8" of slightly curved clear tubing

then another friend's mom had this really cool ceramic double bubbler w/ the hand grip shaped into one of the bubble chambers ~so like a thumbhole deal ~lamp fittings for the bowl/stem and the shelf below the bowl {though i have never seen anyone use that shelf}

@ some point {late 80s after HS and all those times} i got an aluminum bong we called the 'airplane bong' ~cause it would survive a fall from an airplane

today; aluminum doesnt seem like a good choice for a smoking {or cooking} utensil but~~~

threw that 1 away when i found 'religion' ~still a "believer" but that "every herb bearing seed" thing makes more sense than these dumb-assed religions {how did i sneak that in here?} along w/ my classic brass chamber-sherlock {lamp piece} i wonder how many bowls got smoked through that particular piece just cause i had it @ parties????

once i sobered up from the religion thing; i picked up a generic acrylic bong and matrix sticker to complete the coolness factor {honestly i just liked the jester graphic} threw that 1 away when i quit as a Y2K new year's resolution

long story even longer; glass for me from here on out ~running a 12" ehle straight tube w/ ice pinches ~always nice to have one of those nifty spoons too!
 

Bush Dr

Painting the picture of Dorian Gray
Veteran
The bamboo bongs were for sale in all the 'oriental craft' shops for years as "object d'art"
 

2 Legal Co

Active member
Veteran
Friend of mine liked his Boo Bong so much that he used to re-oil it by soaking it in the tub the he 'pickled' wooden clarinets in. Pickled it for 2-3 days at a time to keep it from cracking. lol
 

k-s-p

Well-known member
Veteran
Vented Erlenmeyer flask, double hole stopper, thistle tube bowl, and associated tubing :biggrin:
 

Bud Green

I dig dirt
Veteran
I'm not sure what they looked like "back in the day"
but if I can figure out how to post a pic here, i'll show
you one I built while hanging out in the hills of Jamaica
in 1972...
 

DIDM

Malaika
Veteran
duh

single perk, add downstem to anything hollow that holds water, walla

now how do you smoke oil out of a coconut?
 

Garhart

Member
From the mid seventies on it would have been a toker. Had started with the original and was glad when they Later came out with the smaller second version which was toker II . Was about the first nice clear glass unit I saw. I liked it because it was easy to keep clean with alcohol.
The first neat place I recall seeing for retail sales was called the bongworks and was in the DuPont Circle area of DC in the early seventies. It would have been about the same time that Earthworks was just a little tiny place below the DC switchboard.
 
H

hard rain

Orchy was a popular orange juice (in Australia anyway, not sure about the rest of the world) that was sold in plastic bottles that were perfect for making bongs. Either cut or burn a hole in the side and stick in a piece of garden hose. They were quite revolting. You could often taste this hint of melting plastic in your hit. We used to make our own cones in metalwork class at school. It was either that or you'd take tin snips to a tin can.

I had a really nice 2 foot long bamboo bong but you never really got the smell of bong water out of it.
 

dddaver

Active member
Veteran
I made a big two hosed deal and used a big ass wooden bowl way back in the dark ages,'74, while in Utica NY going to Mohawk Valley CC. I called it a water pipe. Somebody might call it a bong, there was a big open space for the smoke to gather after it went though the water/wine. Traded it for an ounce of good. Couldn't take it home to Mom and Dad's for the summer.
 

OvergrowDaWorld

$$ ALONE $$
Veteran
From waaaaaay back -
picture.php
 

dddaver

Active member
Veteran
Really? Unhelpful for what I wrote about that silly shit...really? Why? What was unhelpful about that?
 

Bud Green

I dig dirt
Veteran
Garhart:
I had one of those also. I think it was the toker II.. About 8 inches tall and had the carb hole in it... I got it around 1975 or so, at a head shop near the foot of the bridge in Georgetown, D.C. In fact, I think I may still have it packed up in a storage shack on some property I own about 1200 miles away..Man, I loved that thing!
 
Top