The Highway

Toro has arrived!

thehighwaychicago — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:24:32 +0000

I would like to think we have seen “tons” of glass. From the low end to the high end and from great quality to poor quality; these Toro’s are perfect. The welds are perfect, the shape is perfect, everything is perfect about these. Perfection comes with a price. Although they command top dollar, they are worth every penny. Enjoy the eye candy.

We have a wiener!

thehighwaychicago — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:31:11 +0000

This Saturday we hosted our Six Year Anniversary event. In keeping with our raffling traditions; we offered a free headie raffle. Daniel Robbina is our lucky winner. Daniel should be stoked to win a $700 Beast/Ghost bubbler collaboration. Thank you to all who came out and nerded glass with us. Till next time!

Celebrate…..Good Times! Come on!

thehighwaychicago — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:35:00 +0000

We could not be more thrilled to be celebrating our sixth year of business. Join us on Saturday November 19th between 7 & 10PM, for deep discounts on headie glass. We have all headies for 40% off and select water pipes at 20% off! The first thirty people will receive a gift bag with our new foot bags. The generosity does not stop there. We will be raffling off a headie piece! Don’t forget to stay for our live glass blowing demo. Smash your pink piggy banks, bring your pennies, and join us for a celebratory time!

Grand Opening Reception!

thehighwaychicago — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:36:52 +0000

All work and no play can put any one on edge. With that being said it’s time to celebrate! On Sunday, August 21st, noon to five o’clock, we are hosting festivities for all of our wonderful clients, friends, and family. We have conned Hubble Hookah into catering some tasty eats. Benjamin Tea will be pouring refreshing iced tea. Free food and drinks not your thing? Maybe a free headie is? We will be raffling off a headie by Dom that is being made as we speak! Chad G and Dom will have their work on display in our center cases. We have some cool gear to give out as well. Join us for a great time filled with local treats for all of our amazing local patrons!

Highway

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:47:51 +0000

I have always been skeptical hearing the phrase “All good things come to those who wait.” For once I am a true believer. Six weeks past schedule & much hardship, The Highway, is shaping up to look like a “real” store. The final finishing touches are being added this week. We had our new sign installed just yesterday. It is more swanky than I would have ever imagined. I need to thank all of our loyal customers that continue to stop by to see our progress; I believe it was worth the wait.

Dom

admin — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:45:48 +0000

In the last entry, I wrote about high caliber veteran blowers we associate with. I want to shed a little light on our resident glass blower, Dom. Not only do we have a great professional relationship but are great friends since our youth. We met in third grade, tore up the mean streets of Norridge with our love of aggressive inline skating, only to open a pipe shoppe where glass captivated us. With no kiln, a National 6b, about 100 square feet of space, and many cracked glass pipes later, Dom had moved into his own. Five years later, I get to see pipes with fluid reversals, symmetrical shapes, and perfect seams. I can already see a defined style of his, that is only going to progress. I cannot thank him enough for always keeping us stocked with not only quality production work but very unique sherlocks and headies (that we can’t help but love). You have to remember every time you buy a Dom piece you are not only buying a possible one of a kind but your supporting the little guys. And for that we salute you!

Local Glass

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 02:17:56 +0000

We love to nerd about glass all day here at The Highway. Glass blowers stop by frequently with new work that we can drool over. A nice benefit of stopping by often is seeing our always changing selection. All of our pipery comes from local, smaller blowers. We prefer buying this way so you will not see five of the same pipe. We get a mix of different talent from blowers just starting out to veterans of high caliber. Unfortunately the same does not hold true for the water pipe sector of our industry. Most glass tube companies are bigger operations with a lot of funding behind them to mass produce these products. It has to be this way to keep the end price down. A lathe, the machine used to produce water pipes, is expensive. Along with a lathe, you then need a kiln big enough to cool them steadily, which is expensive as well. The large initial investment keeps smaller blowers from this discipline. It is a rarity to find a one man operation churning out water pipes in their garage. But we’ll keep our fingers crossed. We look for reputable companies with high quality control standards, not to mention American raw materials and labor. Luckily we have a great working relationship with Zob, HBG, PHX, Mighty Chalice & Illadelph.