When it comes to the Australian stoner scene, Agung bongs feature prominently and have played a major part in the Aussie smokers culture for decades.
Here is a brief history of the Agung brand and company, as best I could find out with a bit of research and by contacting Agung. The following is as accurate to the best of my knowledge.
Around 1975 a guy named Alan started selling hand made bongs at markets in the Sydney region. Alan called his business “odyssey”.
At around the same time another two guys named Roger and Gordon had started a company called “Agung” (named after the Indonesian volcano) and were selling bongs at markets around Paddington, they also had a shop at Bondi Junction.
In 1977 Alan with his company Oddysey began wholesaling his hand made ceramic bongs. These bongs had become popular and were selling well.
Soon after Oddysey started wholesaling, Agung also started wholesaling. Both were not only selling bongs but other paraphernalia such as hand pipes, cases, novelty merchandise. Agung was a wholesaler, but also operated their own retail stores.
In 1984 Agung and Oddysey merged, becoming Agung Trading Australia.
In either 1985 or 1986 the retail side of Agung split from the wholesale side. Alan from the original Oddysey and Roger from the original Agung took over the wholesale side while Gordon and Mike took over the retail side.
The retail side of the business lasted for about 3 years until the then NSW liberal party government launched a crack down on smoking related paraphernalia.
Agung moved to Canberra in 1993 but kept their warehouse in Bankstown where they had kilns and pottery equipment. They manufactured various ceramic bongs, up to 34 different designs. In my opinion these were the best ceramic bongs I have ever seen.
Around the mid 1990's, another company (I will refrain from naming) decided to enter the market as competition to Agung, they copied all of Agung's designs and manufactured cheaper, lower quality copies. A lot of smoke shops cared more about money than the quality of the product though, so un-named company grew and became successful, to the detriment of Agung.
Agung has continued though to this day, and is still the most reputable and respected brand in terms of Aussie style bongs and paraphernalia. Agung is still Australian owned.
