Talk:Head shop

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Origin of "headshop"

I'm curious as to where the name "head shop" came from? i understand what it is and how it started, but where did the name orginate from?

According to my dubious source(rotten.com library), the term head shop originates from the hippie culture.

The term "head shop" communicates the idea of a store selling things which are "good for one's head" http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/bongs/

There are multiple suggestions to where the term headshop originates from according to this website http://en.grasscompany.com/headshop It might stem from the eufemistic expression 'get your head on', — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rokert (talk • contribs) 13:32, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

I think this might be the first mention of a head shop: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-09-05/news/8901100384_1_pipes-paraphernalia-head-shops It's an article about Jack Herer, the glass pipe salesman. --Potguru (talk) 23:47, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

= Reply ==it originated in Clairton,pa. Behind my grandmas house

I have never edited a Wiki before, so this was quite interesting. However, I have an answer to your question. I grew up in Denton Texas, right next to the Zebra's Head (head shop). UNT was a music school (at least it was back then), and we used to buy pipes, bongs, papers, and then go around to the back of the store, score a lid of pot for $10, and use them. We eventually started calling it a "head shop". During the draft, I moved to California to avoid going to vietnam (and eventually to Canada for years), and -- like some other folks of the day (like Don Henley -- yea - knew him in College and he was quite the stoner back then), we started calling stores like that "Head Shops" based on the "Zebra's Head". It is still standing there today, and I'm thinking about asking my nephew to take a picture of the front before it's too late (yep, it's painted like a zebra).

Here is the post, and I certainly hope nobody deletes it. It's one of those bits of history that may very well be lost within the hourglass of our culture if it's not maintained. However, if I did this incorrectly, I would sincerely appreciate some assistance to get this posted appropriately. You may change the post, but PLEASE don't delete any facts that help maintain the validity of the post.

The term "Head Shop" originated at the "Zebra's Head" (Head Shop) in Denton, Texas, near the corner of Fry & Hickory street a mear 1 block from the University of North Texas (113 Fry St.). The Zebra's Head began selling paraphernalia in 1964 and has been a long standing tradition for UNT students (UNT is a music school) but will be torn down in 2009 as a result of a community revitalization program. UNT Students, like Don Henley from the Eagles, would travel to California and inquire or comment on the Zebra's Head shop, and eventually the phrase, "Head Shop" was added to the English vocabulary. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.120.4.1 (talk) 18:46, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Ok I hve to chime in on this one.....I don't know where you got your facts but some are right but most are wrong. The little shop at 113 Fry St. in Denton Texas is the oldest head shop in Texas and may very well be the oldest in the U.S.. But when it opened in 1964 it opened under the name "The Shrunken Head" after that it was "The Birmingham Balloon" And it was not painted like a Zebra at that time.It was painted white with only a sign on it. It changed hand many times before it was painted with the familiar Zebra outside paint job. That paint job was painted in the mid 80's. The owner that painted it that way was Nana. She moved to Denton and leased the building and opened it as "The Zebra".I know this because I helped paint it. After she moved it was leased to a man named Hairy. He changed the name to "Fry St. Records in 1990 but kept the zebra stripes.He opened a second record shop in Dallas and sold the business to me.I took over the lease from him in 1992 and kept the name "Fry St. Records" and kept the zebra stripes also. The owner of the property sold the store and his other property which was the Delta Lodge(the old Sigma Alpha Mu or as we called the Sammy house).The lodge were my neighbors. The Lodge bought it because they were going to lose there back stage and most of there back yard if the properties were separated. I lost my lease to the Deltas in the spring of 95. Then and only then did it take on the name "The Zebra Head". And when I was the owner found out the term "head shop" came because the first owner would tell his friends and customers,"When you come into my shop it will change your head." that and the name of the shop. The term just stuck. The building still stands and is still painted like a zebra but inside the store under the white paint on the walls is a mural I painted when I owned the shop. The people that took over when I was gone painted the wals white... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.88.4.183 (talk) 07:50, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I want to believe the story about the first head shop but without any evidence from some kind of news report or some other reference we just cannot accept your claim. --Potguru (talk) 23:52, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

--- This article claims the "first use of a drug with the word 'head' to denote a subject as an addict" was in 1913.

https://marijuanapackaging.com/blogs/resources/headshop-history-why-do-we-call-them-headshops

Unfortunately the source cited does not (any longer) support that assertion. Ileanadu (talk) 00:58, 25 April 2019 (UTC)