(retro music)
- [Voiceover] Pogs.
You probably remember this prolific 90s fad,
but what you may not know is that
Pogs have roots that go
all the way back to 17th century Japan.
(retro music)
Okay, first thing's first.
Let's review the rules.
To play, you start with a stack of Pogs,
all face down.
Player one takes a slammer and throw it down onto the pile
and keeps any and all Pogs that land face up.
Pogs that remain face down are re-stacked,
and the game continues on.
The player with the most pogs at the end of the game, wins.
Hooray!
The origins of Pogs can be traced back to this,
Menko, a classic Japanese game.
Players threw cards at their opponents' cards
with the goal of flipping them over.
In the early 1900s, Japanese immigrants settled in Hawaii
and brought the game with them.
Over time, it evolved into a version played with
milk and juice caps from a local dairy company in Maui,
eventually renaming it Pogs after their juice
that was made out of passion fruit, orange, and guava.
Get it?
In 1991, this woman, a sixth grade teacher
named Blossom Galbiso,
introduced the game to her class.
Her goal was to teach them math,
but in a fun way, and it worked big time.
Kids loved it, and the game exploded in popularity
throughout Hawaii and then spread to the mainland.
As the game took off,
this marketing guy, Alan Rypinski, took note.
He purchased the trademark for Pogs,
founded the World Pog Federation,
and got them into every store in America.
♫ Oom ma mow mow, Papa oom mow mow ♫
And subsequently, into nearly every home with a 90s kid.
- [Voiceover] Pogs.
- [Voiceover] Thanks, Alan.
(upbeat music)