OUR STORYOn February 24th 2003, after an intensive $12 million dollar investigation involving over 2000 law enforcement officers, Operation Pipe Dreams was executed. The nationwide investigation into illegal drug paraphernalia sales led to the arrests of 55 individuals who faced various punishments such as fines and at home detention while the glass industry as a whole was characterized as terrorists. However Tommy Chong was the only one who faced any prison time.
In a politically motivated move the US government wrongfully entrapped Tommy and his son Paris, the owner of Chong Glass. In order to protect the ones he loved, Tommy took a deal and spent 9 months in prison. The business they worked so hard to build was seized and shut down. The beautiful works of art that were once readily available in head shops everywhere slowly became more difficult to find.
As a result, collectors continued the endless search far and wide for those relics we came to cherish. Now 20 years later, with times and laws changing, we look back on this era as "Pre-Op" or "Pre-Operation Pipe Dreams". If time and fate were on your side, and you held on to one of those bearded, bandanna bearing bongs, count yourself among the lucky few. Thanks to social media the ability to connect collectors with glass artists has never been easier. In 2016, Jessie McClenny started a group on Facebook. This group helped thousands of adulting stoners and collectors find old glass relics lost in time while creating a platform for original Chong artists to display talents new and old to adoring fans.
A handful of these amazing artists have teamed up to create a selection of bongs, pipes and accessories that are as true to the Chong Glass line now as they were in 2003.
Our Artist roster: Christian Barr, Matt Simpson, Jeremiah Garoutte, Todd Hensley, and Travis Wigger.
In 2023 we will start to bring back some of that very same line all you Chongers fell in love with 20 years ago, along with some new exciting innovations and a fresh take on what Chong Glass is and will always be…An American Classic 😎
