Head Shop – A retail outlet specializing in paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis and tobacco and items related to cannabis culture and related countercultures. Products may include magazines (e.g., about cannabis culture, cannabis cultivation, tattooing and music), clothing, and home décor (e.g., posters and wall hangings illustrating drug culture themes such as cannabis, jam bands like The Grateful Dead, psychedelic art, etc.)
Our neighborhood head shop in Kailua was Mescalito.
Of course we did the local thing and added an “s” to the end of the name so everyone called it “Mescalito’s”.
I used to love browsing around in Mescalitos. The first thing that hits you when you enter is the fragrance of incense – especially the patchouli scent – the epitome of “hippy”. And on the glass cases that displayed the different smoking “bongs” were the little brown bottles of “oils”. Again, the patchouli oil was the most popular. But also, the strawberry oils. Remember when that strawberry scent was all the rage and almost every girl in school smelled of strawberry?
And there was the assortment of rolling papers – Zig-Zag, Big Bambu, even flavored ones. And even smoke flavorings. Anyone remember Dinky Dou smoke flavoring? Used to come in a little squeeze dropper bottle. I remember the mint and strawberry (of course) flavors. Put a drop of the flavoring on the filter of your cigarette and you have a flavored cigarette. Kids vaping that flavored stuff today had nothing on us. We were blowing flavored smoke way back in the day.
Of course there were the black light posters – but was more cheap at Holiday Mart.
One thing that Mecalitos had was those peasant tops that women used to wear. The thin gauze ones with the embroidery on the arms and across the front.
And men’s too!
As you can see in the photo of Mescalito’s, the Kailua one also sold bikinis.
IIRC, there was another head shop in Kailua a bit before my time. I believe it was named One Step Beyond.
Do you recall any head shops in your neighborhood? I vaguely remember one across of Ala Moana Center at 404 Piikoi. There was Records Hawaii, Stone Free Water Beds, and was it Hawaii’s Natural High – before they moved to Waikiki? I can’t seem to remember – ironically.
Do you remember other things that head shops used to carry? Oil lamps and scented oil – for example. Share your head-shop memories with us.
