 "Photo: Special to THE DAILY GAMECOCK")
With hookahs and hookah bars becoming increasingly popular, USC student Jeremy Meggs and Daniel Rovin added to the trend in a unique way.
Working together in Greenville last summer, Bookah Bears were born.
"The idea came about due to Rovin and I just being in the right state of mind one day when we were sitting around with friends," said Meggs, a second-year undeclared student.
The idea of Bookah Bears is a simple one: to combine two timeless items. The hookah, a water pipe with hoses used for smoking tobacco, has been around for hundreds of years. When put in a classic toy, a teddy bear, it becomes a "virtually indestructible, concealable, completely airtight" way of smoking, Meggs said.
"The bookah bear is a fully lovable two-hosed hookah that is entirely concealed within a teddy," Meggs said.
Rovin, a first-year jazz saxophone performance student at The New School in New York, said their product is obvious in its appeal.
"Who doesn't want a loveable teddy bear that serves a practical purpose?" Rovin said.
Meggs invited Jake McVay, a second-year mechanical engineering student, to test the product.
"I've used two different bears and I can vouch for their quality and craftsmanship," McVay said.
Nathan Gibson, a first-year biology student, also served as a Bookah Bear tester.
"Everyone I have shown one to has agreed that it is awesome," Gibson said.
McVay himself does not own a Bookah Bear, but said Bookah Bears are great gifts.
"From my experience, everybody that saw the bears fell in love with them and they thought it was a really cool and unique way to smoke hookah," McVay said.
Meggs also stressed the value of a Bookah Bear as a gift.
"It's classy, the perfect gift for your everyday adult that may want to keep his or her smoke life private from all," he said.
The teddy bear is not the first thing Meggs and Rovin combined with a hookah. They first made a Yamaha student model saxophone into a water pipe.
"You had to play a certain note to cover up all the keys to keep smoke and water from exiting the chamber before getting up to the mouthpiece," Meggs said of their first creation.
Meggs said their first project led to the creation of the Bookah Bears, but the hookah-in-a-stuffed-animal concept is not limited to teddy bears.
"The direction we seem to be going towards now is taking customers' stuffed animals and modifying them into personalized bookah bears or animals," Meggs said.
Meggs said the new business is helping out college students finacially, who are normally strapped for cash,
"The coolest thing about starting up a small thing like this was getting a business bank account and being somewhat financially stable, working out of the house job," Meggs said.
In addition to financial stability, the Bookah Bear creators have gained support and respect from their peers.
"I joined the group because I wanted to support my friends and attest to the quality of their product," McVay said of the Bookah Bears Facebook group. "They really get a lot of respect from me for doing something as innovative as they've done."
Bookah Bears cost $80. According to Meggs, the product does not cost much to make, but the effort is time consuming.
"A lot of love is put into creating the final product," he said.
Bookah Bears are sold at Whatever III in Greenville, but orders are welcome and can be made through the Bookah Bear Facebook group, Meggs said.
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