In our never ending quest to provide all of our readers with relatable, ‘slice of life’ style content, we here at the SoBros Network feel the time to weigh in on social commentary has officially come. It’s once again time for me, Big Natural, to open up the leather-bound parchment pages of the annals of history. Put on your plush robe, light your pipe, start a fire, and get ready for deep contemplation. This is the as-often-as-I-remember-to-write-it column: Forgotten Treasures of Americana. Today, we are going to be reliving the pogs craze of the 1990s.
Y’all remember pogs? Little cardboard discs with some sort of graphic on one side. They were straight RAGING in popularity in the mid-1990s, so if you’re one of our younger readers, you might not have any idea of what I’m talking about. Damn it – that might be the first time I’ve typed ‘younger readers’ on this site. Shit. Is this what 34 means? Anyway, I can remember toting my pogs around in one of those hard plastic tubes in my backpack every day. They were precious currency at Gladeville Elementary back in the day. You’d compare collections with your friends. Sometimes, you’d make a trade for the right pog. All in all, it wasn’t much different from the baseball card game back in the day.
I recently uncovered what’s left of my old collection (I lost a lot in the 2010 flood) as I was unpacking in my new home (pictured in this post’s featured image). I forgot about all of the old WWF ones I had, The Simpsons, the NFL logos, the superheroes, and the weird one-offs (that ying yang one is so 90s). I bought those things everywhere we went – Wal-Mart, flea markets, whatever…it didn’t matter. I was always on the hunt for pogs. The gem of my collection is that “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase slammer. I had some good ones back in the day, but that one was always my favorite.
But, there’s some history here that you guys might not realize. At the very least, I learned some things when researching this piece. I always thought pogs came along when they were popular during my childhood, but they have roots planted around a century ago. They just weren’t actually called ‘pogs’ until their boom in popularity in the 90s! They were originally referred to as ‘milk caps,’ because they were quite literally caps from bottles of milk, this game has roots dating all the way back to the 1920s. *mind blown* – what? That’s why we do these Forgotten Treasures of Americana pieces one in awhile. We’re here to learn things about ourselves and our history.
Also, if you didn’t catch that ‘game’ part, yeah – pogs was actually a game. I can remember playing it – you just smack the stack of pogs with your slammer and whichever pogs you turn over, you get to keep. I’ve had friends swear to me they don’t remember it being a game….just a collecting fad. But, the true spirit of these collectibles is that of competition. In fact, the reason those pogs were together in my box of board games is because they were last used for a pogs tournament I held at my old apartment in 2013. What a weird thing to write in an article.
Anyway, once this covid shit blows over, you guys can look forward to a pogs tournament held out here at SoBros HQ. For the time being, this quick little trip down Memory Lane will have to do.
FORGOTTEN TREASURES OF AMERICANA ARCHIVES
The 2004 Quiznos Commercial
3D Doritos
3OH!3
AIM
American Gladiators
The Basilisk
The Bermuda Triangle
Braided Belts
Citizen’s Arrest
Hammocks In Centennial Park
Hasbro WWF Action Figures
Homework
Mama’s Family
Micro Machines
Muppet Treasure Island
Playing Outside
Quicksand
Slamball
Surge
That Marilyn Manson rumor…
The Super Soaker 50
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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