Pogs... and Other Cool Fads of the 90s

Somehow, some way, I always am apart of a conversation that leads to talking about "remember whens..." we sit and talk about how the shows we grew up with in the early 90s were much more sophisticated than what we call TV today.  I mean, who wouldn't be a fan of "Clarissa Explains it All," "Blossom," "Boy Meets World," "Gummy Bears," "David the Gnome," and "Fragle Rock"... and the list is just getting started.  Maybe that means that my parents let me fill my mind with hours of television, but I also lived a dual life as a tomboy - so I think I spent it split 50/50 - half indoors and half climbing trees and riding my bike.  You don't believe I was a tomboy?  If you challenge me on this, I will have to show you a picture from 2nd grade - I had VERY short hair.  I'm not ashamed of those years, but man, did my mother convince me to have one ugly haircut.

I was at a work pot luck earlier this evening and somehow we started to talk about Pogs.  For those of you who never witnessed or played this ingenious game... let me explain.  Basically, you have circular cardboard disc with a design on the front, which was called a 'pog.'  Then, you had a circular metal disc, also with a design on the top called a 'slammer.'  My slammer had Winnie the Pooh and Tigger on it.  I thought I was so cool. The object of the game was to stack up your pogs face up and your friends' pogs into a stacked tower.  Then, you took turns to throw (slam) you slammer on the stack of pogs and hope to have the pogs land face down.  Those that landed face down on your turn became yours.  Whoever had the most pogs at the end was the winner.

Now, technically, you were supposed to play for keeps, but I never had the heart to do it.  Once someone won a pog that I just couldn't part ways with, I would shout out, "Hey, never mind, I'm not playing for keeps..."  And then someone would get mad at me, but then I wouldn't go home disappointed. I mean can you imagine going home empty handed?  It'd be like losing at poker in one hand, your chips are gone and you have no chance to win them back.

Although pogs I think were only a fad for a short time, it was a fad long enough for me to purchase a pog holder - a plastic cylinder container to tote my pogs safely to and from school.  It makes me think of the fads of today - nothing comes to mind of any game where they physically play with one another (yes, I understand kids still play sports, etc.  I'm talking fads here) - unless it's with an app.  My friends love the app 'Words with Friends' and I always get really annoyed when it is played silently while their opponent is in the same room.  Is that what we've come to?  Apps?  I mean, I am a smart phone owner and appreciate technology, but I think the art of the imagination is escaping us.  So, I say, let's bring pogs back, who's with me?