POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Bong made from a plastic drinking bottle

Object No. 2000/25/1

This example of a bong (or marijuana waterpipe) is a common variation of the different types of home-made bong used in the 1990s. The smoking of marijuana is becoming an increasingly common recreational pursuit in Australia. Even though marijuana remains an illicit drug, many kinds of manufactured bongs are freely available in specialty shops. However, amongst young people with limited incomes, the home-made, disposable bong is very popular. Often referred to as 'Orchy bongs', after a brand of orange juice, they are made from a plastic sport drink or juice bottle fitted with a piece of garden hose. The rise in popularity of this style of marijuana smoking explains the mysterious rash of chopped hoses in the front gardens of Australian suburbia in recent years. The advantages of this kind of bong are; Firstly, they are cheap - manufactured bongs are expensive and often breakable, whereas the only outlay for the user(s) of an Orchy bong is the metal cone. Secondly, they are disposable, so that when they become dirty and smelly they do not have to be cleaned but can simply be thrown away. Disposable bongs are a common sight in gutters, stormwater drains, parks, beaches and other places where rubbish accumulates. This particular example was found in a street gutter in Ultimo, an inner-city area of Sydney. It is made from a 'Schweppes Sport Plus' drink bottle and is decorated with graffiti-style insults, probably written with a green 'Posca' paint pen. For the Powerhouse Museum collection, it is a significant example of the ephemera of life in the 1990s. References: 'Marijuana spending reaches a new high', Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 1 October 1999. How to make bongs www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/7659/bong.html (link no longer available) Ste's bong emporium www.thecave.demon.co.uk/bong.htm (no longer available)

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Summary

Object Statement

Bong (Marijuana waterpipe), plastic / rubber, home-made, maker unknown, Australia, 1996

Physical Description

Bong (marijuana waterpipe), home-made from plastic drink bottle and sections of garden hose, Australia, 1996. The bottle from which the bong is made is a 'Schweppes Sport Plus' bottle, and the seal where the piece of hose enters near the bottom of the bottle is made from black gaffer tape. There is a small hole (over which a finger would be placed when the bong was being used) melted or cut near the shoulder of the bottle. The whole bottle is decorated with graffiti-style insults probably written with a green 'Posca' paint pen. The bong has been used and contained remnants of burnt marijuana when it was found.

DIMENSIONS

Height

185 mm

Width

70 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

Unknown Found in a gutter in December 1996.

HISTORY

Notes

The bong was found by Megan Hicks in a gutter in Harris Street, Ultimo.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Gift of Megan Hicks, 2000

Acquisition Date

17 February 2000

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