Was it 1989 or 1990? What a hole that left when they all closed. We had to drive all the way down to Octopus Garden or head into the city to Earth Works, and even they scaled down their inventory. We even resorted to buying six foot long plastic tubes and lamp parts.

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Best part of going to Penguin Feather was to hint about your intent on how you planned to use their products, they'd get so pissy, but they'd still sell to you.

I always thought the best part of going to Penguin Feather and other such places was the records and tapes. Seeing and talking with other members of the subculture was a plus as well, but there was really no point to buying more and more paraphernalia every week.

Not how I recall it Wrote:
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> I always thought the best part of going to Penguin
> Feather and other such places was the records and
> tapes. Seeing and talking with other members of
> the subculture was a plus as well, but there was
> really no point to buying more and more
> paraphernalia every week.

Penguin Feather had a shitty selection of music, it seemed like they wanted to discourage kids from coming in to buy records and tapes. They were a head shop, that was the only reason to go there, but it was always a fun thing to ride along when one of your buddies was heading over.

Sounds like Penguin Feather folded when some folks were fifteen.

I think it was 90 or 91.hard to remember. 8-)
Virginia passed a law against paraphenilia.
I switched to corncob pipes.Available at any cvs.

We purchased our smoking accessories for the most part at Record Lords at Fairfax Circle.

7-11 and the drug stores all sold rolling papers at the checkout. Head shops were everywhere. There was a nice one at the back of World Imports on the lower level of Tysons.
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Home Grown Radio Wrote:
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> 7-11 and the drug stores all sold rolling papers
> at the checkout. Head shops were everywhere.
> There was a nice one at the back of World Imports
> on the lower level of Tysons.
> .


Not only papers, we sold some great porno mags at the Drug Fair I worked at when I turned 16, nobody ever bought the really dirty ones so we ended up with a giant stack of them in the back room. Minimum wage sucked but you can't beat beers and porn as fringe benefits.

jLLLx Wrote:
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> I think it was 90 or 91.hard to remember. 8-)
> Virginia passed a law against paraphenilia.
> I switched to corncob pipes.Available at any cvs.

Calling BS, no dope smoker tried those more than once.

Penguin Feather was not chain retail

wow there is an name Ive not heard in years - pre Tower Records. Get some LP's and head to Ol' Mac's in Georgetown for some beers and puke skating...

Not a chain Wrote:
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> Penguin Feather was not chain retail


They were at Route 1 near Beacon Mall, Fairfax City, I believe Bailey's and Herndon, how many locations makes a chain?

Like another poster said...how many times does one need to buy smoking devices ? The main reason to go to Penguin Feather at least in my case, was the music. Then again, if your musical taste began and ended with Boston or Peter Frampton, you probably were there to buy a bong. Shitty selection ? Sure, they never had the volume of Harmony Hut or Giant Music. Penguin Feather was always more about avant garde stuff and a great way to buy used and unusual records, which was one the main attractions. Every location had a good selection of trade-in LPs. As said, rolling papers were available at 7E, and nobody was breaking their Tokemaster or losing their pipe every week. I'm guessing the average repeat customer was there for the music, and of course High Times magazine and Freak Brothers comics. Rainbow Tree predated the Penguin Feather in Annandale.

anyone remember a used-clothing store called the Rag Bag?

I still have my Penguin Feather t-shirt. It got me a dollar off any album I bought. Since I bought hundreds of albums, the t-shirt saved me a lot of money. It doesn't fit me any more, though, so I just store it with my old t-shirts, just to look at it now and then.

I remember when they started requiring you to write your name down when you bought anything "suspicious." I'd look at the names before on the list, and some of them were, like, Donald Duck, or Mr. Spock, or Nancy Reagan. I wondered what that list was for.

Richard Nixon bought a couple Toke Master Executives.

Chain smoker Wrote:
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> Not a chain Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Penguin Feather was not chain retail
>
>
> They were at Route 1 near Beacon Mall, Fairfax
> City, I believe Bailey's and Herndon, how many
> locations makes a chain?


Also in Vienna near the Giant/Outback Steakhouse. Definitely a chain.

We used to buy bongs, paper and "stuff" at the Cash&Carry next to Anitas at Rt. 50 and Centreville Road. They lasted a lot longer than Penguin Feather before "the man" put a stop to their activities.

born in 62 Wrote:
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> Richard Nixon bought a couple Toke Master
> Executives.

TMs were such a racket, they were considered the gold standard but nothing was more fragile, spend your $$$ and enjoy it until your buddy drops it or cracks the stem trying to clean the thing. The stainless steel ones that came out around 2000 were a huge improvement.

I was Not "COOL" enough to go in P.F or the "Truckers Stop" either.

They laughed me out of the store and called me a "Redneck Hillbilly"...Hey did they not know the Difference? Rednecks are Low Class Common Riff Raff, Hillbilly's are proud hardworking people, honest and High Class.

Lousy comments about Liberals withheld out of "Common" Sense..

DAJAX

Toke Masters were the Gold standard of the day, still have a couple 'em, one is kinda short because mom busted it in half on the clothesline pole.

penguine feather got shut down due to "no customers"

it directly followed major franchisers distributing "mandatory workplace drug testing" (originally required for dangerous factory work) in area stores

it was either quit or loose job and back then - that could cause one to be on the streets which of course

one can die from

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today it's called 420 and supported for politically special people - but not others

meanwhile terrorists still use drugs as a way to bring harm to america by damaging their futures

you didn't know it was well known that asia stepped up giving drugs to soldiers and exporting it illegally to usa during wartime and after: with intent to get them all addicted and have a great "societal debauchery" and downfall of usa?

you can't just look at pictures of the past (if you even did) and "remember what went on". you practically need and old person who was there to describe who did what and why they said they were doing it

Chain smoker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not a chain Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Penguin Feather was not chain retail
>
>
> They were at Route 1 near Beacon Mall, Fairfax
> City, I believe Bailey's and Herndon, how many
> locations makes a chain?


From the Penguin Feather FB page( https://www.facebook.com/penguin.feather ):

"Orpheus/Penguin Feather, 3225 M Street NW: The original Orpheus records opened around 1970. A Washington Post article from that year named the store as a good source for bootlegs. Penguin Feather records opened up in the space after Orpheus closed. In 1989, six Penguin Feather stores, including the Georgetown location, were raided by customs agents in a crackdown on drug paraphernalia, which led to an indictment of company executives in 1990 and the demise of the chain. The spot is now the location of True Religion Brand Jeans."

Safe to say Penquin Feather was a "regional" chain, like Kemp Mill, but not national, like Tower.

I remember the big raid in 1989 at several Penquin Feather locations, but don't think they closed immediately after. The demise of nationwide Mom & Pop record stores was more like ten years later, when Best Buy locations had taken the reign by consistently selling CD's below distributor cost, with even the bug name Chains falling in another 5-6 years time.

As far as Head Gear, I bought a new TM almost every year, as the repairs to fix broken stems looked bad, and a new TM always seemed awesome. Anyone have a clear memory of when TokeMaster was rebranded TobaccoMaster? I want to say around 81-82? I think the last TokeMaster I purchased was at SmokeStack on Rt1 around 81 when I graduated High School, but my memory from that time is clouded by all the silver dragon blotter I was ingesting.

You can still find TobaccoMasters new on line, but the " young-ins" have moved on to spending $300 + on the RooR glass water pipes, and prefer a Vape to an original ProtoPipe. Awe,... Times change.

The PF in Vienna carried "Smokemasters" after they quit selling the original TM.

Wcc7X Wrote:
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> The PF in Vienna carried "Smokemasters" after they
> quit selling the original TM.


I still have one.

Meh...Used to buy all my stuff at Dragon Song on Rt. 28 in Yorkshire in PWC.

The new TobaccoMaster, (pic hopefully attached) has a brass insert in the red stem, where the bowl screws in. My vintage TM does not have the insert,but, does have a "dot" on the back to indicate the optimum water level, and of course, has the TokeMaster label at the front bottom. Although not shown in their pic, all of the TobaccoMasters I bought from 1982 until January of this year, also included a brass screw on "carb" and a wooden bowl, ( for legal reasons I assume).

I remember the name SmokeMaster after the TokeMaster name stopped being used, but I don't remember ever seeing a SmokeMaster logo, or the "owners manual" for an SM.
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Lord Kairos Wrote:
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> Safe to say Penquin Feather was a "regional"
> chain, like Kemp Mill, but not national, like
> Tower.
>
> I remember the big raid in 1989 at several Penquin
> Feather locations, but don't think they closed
> immediately after. The demise of nationwide Mom &
> Pop record stores was more like ten years later,
> when Best Buy locations had taken the reign by
> consistently selling CD's below distributor cost,
> with even the bug name Chains falling in another
> 5-6 years time.
>
> As far as Head Gear, I bought a new TM almost
> every year, as the repairs to fix broken stems
> looked bad, and a new TM always seemed awesome.
> Anyone have a clear memory of when TokeMaster was
> rebranded TobaccoMaster? I want to say around
> 81-82? I think the last TokeMaster I purchased was
> at SmokeStack on Rt1 around 81 when I graduated
> High School, but my memory from that time is
> clouded by all the silver dragon blotter I was
> ingesting.
>
> You can still find TobaccoMasters new on line, but
> the " young-ins" have moved on to spending $300 +
> on the RooR glass water pipes, and prefer a Vape
> to an original ProtoPipe. Awe,... Times change.

I just purchased a ProtoPipe knockoff on eBay for $20 including shipping. I had one of the originals and gave it to a friend that was moving. When I was about 8 years old my mom found a TokeMaster in the attic of a townhouse she owned and was renting out. I remember my uncle bringing it outside and breaking it on the street. I didn't even know what it was at the time.

420 friendly Wrote:
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> I just purchased a ProtoPipe knockoff on eBay for
> $20 including shipping. I had one of the originals
> and gave it to a friend that was moving. When I
> was about 8 years old my mom found a TokeMaster in
> the attic of a townhouse she owned and was renting
> out. I remember my uncle bringing it outside and
> breaking it on the street. I didn't even know what
> it was at the time.

Here is an original Protopipe Deluxe, with optional wooden stand that assists in removing bottom to clean.

Many states are legalizing not only medical marijuana, but even its recreational use. It's so unfortunate, that our government, federal, AND local, went after Penguin Feather, for selling items made of plastic and glass, that could possibly be used for illegal activities, while gun shops get s pass. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they should go after gun shops, but am confused at the logic. As Marijuana reforms expand across the country, could we see a re-opening of Penguin Feather?

Any one know who holds the trademark?
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Nip
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I thing it was 1990 OR 1991 when they finally shut down, but they were never what the used to be after the county hit 'em with the restrictions starting in the mid-80s. Someone wrote below that PF had a bad collection of music. First of all, music wasn't why you went to PF. If you wanted a wide selection of new tunes, you went to a record store. Secondly, PF did have really good racks full of used albums and tapes. What a blast it used to be to hit the PF for some "equipment" and to browse the used albums to see what came in since you were there last....

Drove by Octopuss Garden in Hoodbridge a month or so ago, looks like it's a goner. They held on in the same place for like 30 years. Can't say their product line was great, but for head shop longevity, I think they win.

Yep. Closed a little over a year ago after 40 years.

https://www.facebook.com/octopusgardenva/