The Big Bong Theory

A journey into the history of the most famous smoking device

Bongs as we know them, sometimes as elaborate artistic individual pieces, sometimes self-made from a simple plastic bottle, sometimes bought in your headshop, have been around for many centuries.

The water pipe has a long tradition and history in many parts of the world. Indigenous peoples used all possible variations of the bong, from the African earth pipe to the Thai bamboo cane the "Ba ung". But where does the popular smoking device come from? Who invented the bong and what is the development of the last decades - from the hippie flower-power movement to modern times?

Today we want to get to the bottom of these exciting questions.

Cannabis: the medicinal plant with tradition

What we know for sure: Cannabis is one of the oldest healing and ritual plants in much of the world and has been used since the beginning of human history. In ceremonies for the transition to higher spheres, for the relaxation of body and mind, and the healing of diseases. And of course, hemp was also used to make everyday objects such as clothes, sails, ropes, and much more.

The hemp comes from Asia. But also the bong?

Hemp has its origins in Asia and has been used there for a very long time as medicine and recreational drug. Aristocrats in China smoked cannabis in elaborately crafted silver pipes decorated with jewels. The middle class used smaller metal models and the common people used bamboo versions. Not only cannabis flowers and the potent resin were smoked, but also opium and tobacco.

One of the most common origin theses is that the name Bong is derived from the Thai "Ba'ung", which means "bamboo trunk". That sounds obvious, doesn't it? But is this the origin?

The Russian equestrian peoples were stoners!

Only recently, gold bongs were found during archaeological excavations in today's Russia, which are dated to an age of about 2400 years. They were ascribed to the Scythian Empire, nomadic horse riders who lived in the tundra. Many leaders of this people were even buried with the pipes. Discoveries on the border to Mongolia and Siberia show that the importance of hemp was deeply rooted in the Scythian culture.

Herodotus, a Greek scholar, describes in his writings on the herb that the Scythians believed cannabis had magical powers. Hemp and hemp seeds were used to ward off evil spirits. Did the Scythians, who spread over large parts of Asia, today's Europe, and Russia all the way to North Africa, invent the water pipe - or did they bring it back from their expeditions in Asia?

African bongs with tradition

A further thesis is also in the room. Our African neighbors may have invented the popular smoking device. J.C. Dombrowski (University of Ghana) found two ceramic spheres in 1971, in the Begemed province of Ethiopia, near Lake Tana. On it, they found - how can it be otherwise - traces of cannabis. These pipes were dated between 1100 and 1400 AD.

African pipes were built into the ground, the hot embers were placed on a buried bottle and the hemp was placed on top. At a short distance, between chamber and mouthpiece, an underground pipe was laid. Cannabis was also frequently consumed with this method in Asian regions.

Another find was made by the archaeologist Mary Leakey in 1945 in what is now Kenya. She found a construction of a bowl with a water filter and mouthpiece made for cannabis smoking. In this area, there lives a tribe threatened with extinction: the Bong`om. The language is called Bong`om, the area is also called Bong and there is even a mountain called Bong. Okay, that's pretty obvious, right?

Origin unknown

None of the above-mentioned places of origin could be proven to date. What is certain, however, is that nations all over the world have celebrated the use of cannabis and the smoking of bongs for thousands of years.

Flowerpower brings the bong into society

Many centuries later, in the 1960s, when the flower power movement began in America, the bong also experienced a renaissance. Free love, peace, and drug experiments were the order of the day. They wanted to break away from the dusty establishment and develop new concepts of life.

For this purpose, many hippies have traveled to Asia and India, have studied Far Eastern philosophy and also their smoking habits. Bongs from Asia were imported by this generation into the western world and celebrated a triumphal procession in America and Europe.

Glass bongs as we know them today

Bob Snodgrass, who toured with the band Grateful Dead in the 70s, taught many on the tour the craft of glassblowing. He is celebrated as the inventor of the modern bong. The shape of his pipes is reminiscent of today's "Hollandbongs": A shape like a glass vase with chillum and rubber ring to seal it.

The newer technology, which has found its way into head shops and households, comes from laboratory equipment. Beakers, bowls, and straights with standard ground joints have been transformed into smoking devices by Heidelberger stoners.

We say thank you!

The bong is by far the most popular smoking device in the history of human cannabis use. Today bongs are collected, decorated, pimped with all kinds of pre-filters, heads, or ash catchers. Sometimes people even mourn when a favorite piece is broken. It is no longer possible to imagine modern stoner culture without it. Whoever invented this great device first: We say THANK YOU!