An English paper machine was imported to Ōji by Eiichi Shibusawa in 1873, and a mechanized mill opened on December 16, 1875. Shoshi Kaisha, later known as Ōji Paper, began producing sulfite wood pulp in 1889. A toy merchant in Nagoya first sold shōya-ken images on pulp paperboard around 1892. The woodblock-printed cards were sold in two square sizes that measure 2.5 cm and 5.5 cm.

Shōya-ken were sold as Kamimenko in Osaka around 1894. A player places menko cards are placed on the ground and an opposing player throws another menko, winning any cards that have overturned. Children would sometimes cut the square corners to create an octagonal shape. The first baseball menko card is an unidentified player on a circular disk from 1897. Rectangular menko cards appeared in Japan following the nationalization of cigarettes in 1898.

The Japan Home Ministry banned lead from all toy manufacturing in 1900. The shift from lead-based products and the introduction of machinery helped the paper menko industry to flourish. Early 20th century menko feature a variety of illustrations that include samurai, soldiers, and sumo wrestlers. The "fox, hunter, shōya" images were gradually replaced by "rock, paper, scissors" hand symbols.

Cigarette insert cards were introduced by New York manufacturer Thomas H. Hall in April 1877. The San Francisco Examiner reported that local children were playing a card-throwing game called "Crusoe" in March 1889. Each player tosses or shoots a tobacco card, trying to land near a mark or a wall. The closest player "picks up all the cards and flops them into the air. All that land face uppermost belong to him if he calls 'heads' and vice versa, and the next boy has a chance to throw whatever cards remain." The game was played across America under various names including "flipping," "scaling," or simply "cards." The games were commonly played for pennies or "keepsies."

On February 7, 1903, The Evening Star reported that children in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia were playing "milktops." The game had reached D.C. sometime before Christmas of 1902. Only caps printed with dairy names were desired and some could sell for a penny each. Boys were commonly seen following dairy wagons to ask customers for the covers. The Evening Star wrote, "They are thrown on the ground, and those that fall with the printed side on top win."

On February 4, 1906, The Washington Times reported that milk tops were more popular than cigarette cards and postage stamps. Milk cap gambling had been banned by several D.C. public schools. On February 24, The Evening Star noted that milk and cream tops from smaller dairies carried more value. "They toss them in the air, so that by this game of chance they lose or win heavily."

In April 1908, it was was widely reported that ten-year-old Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, had traded White House garden roses for milk covers. The Columbus Journal wrote, "The children have a game which they play by means of these disks, and, moreover, certain prestige attaches to the boy who can show the longest string of 'milk tops'."

According to legends, immigrants on Maui plantations played milk cover games around 1923–1927. Japanese and Filipino residents referred to the game as pachi (ぱち). Milk covas are stacked in a vertical tower, each facing the same direction. A player throws a kini, or slammer cap, and wins any caps that have overturned. A thumb tab can produce a random spring element. The University of Hawai'i reported that Maui contained ten dairies and 263 milk cows in 1928.

The kini was often made by gluing together two milk caps. Kini is short for kinikini, a Ni'ihau name for the seeds of Kākalaioa that means abundant. The medicinal Guilandina bonduc is a thorny bush native to Tonga. Kākalaioa is commonly known as nickernut, nicker bean, or Hawaiian pearls. The yellow flowers produce pods that each contain two glossy, spherical seeds that measure roughly 15–20 mm in diameter. The hard seeds were commonly used as marble shooters by children throughout Polynesia. 

A photograph of two Los Angeles children playing milk tops was published in the September 1931 issue of Camera Craft: A Photographic Monthly. "Milk Tops" by Hideharu Fukuyama won second place in the September Advanced Competition. The composition has been compared to Christian Annunciation motifs. A gelatin silver print is held by the Yokohama Museum of Art.

As the US prepared to enter World War II in 1941, Roberts Dairy of Nebraska issued the first collection of Superman milk caps for the Roberts Superman Defense Club of America. Roberts later produced a series of twenty "Code Note" caps for the Supermen of America organization. Each full set of caps could be redeemed for premium prizes.

The demand for daily milk deliveries steadily declined. In 1940, about 45% of American households owned a refrigerator. By 1960, ownership had increased to over 80%. Pure-Pak cartons and plastic containers had widely replaced glass for all milk packaging. The last two horse-drawn milkwagons in America were retired by the Urbana Pure Milk Company in 1968.

The POG tropical juice drink was created by Mary Young Soon, a food product consultant at Haleakala Dairy in Kahului, Maui. POG is an acronym for passion fruit, orange, and guava. The fruit combination has been a popular Hawaiian beverage since the 19th century. Frances "Effie" Cameron, daughter of board member Colin Cameron, is credited for naming the drink POG. The trademark application lists the date of first use as November 2, 1970. The POG trademark was filed on December 15, 1972, and registered on January 22, 1974.

In August 1984, collector Vance Cannon created a milk cover exhibit for Ali'iolani School reunions. Cannon placed a notice in the Honolulu-Star Bulletin looking for other collectors. The reunion committee used milk covers for older alumni to become reacquainted, and the game had a brief revival on the islands.

The POG trademark was transferred to the Baldwin Pacific Corporation in 1986. Haleakala Dairy distributed "'Milk Cap Cover' game" caps for Mountain Fresh Milk and POG juice in 1987. The caps were printed by Stanpac Inc. in Smithville, Ontario. Stanpac operated "Perfection Pull Cap" machines manufactured in the 1930s. The two-color discs and tabbed, stapled and waxed. Each cover measures approximately 1.625 inches (42 mm), the original "No. 2" size for Thatcher milk bottles.

Blossom Iwalani Galbiso was a guidance teacher at Waialua Elementary School on O'ahu. After observing an aggressive match of sham-battle, Galbiso wanted to introduce a safe, but challenging activity. Galbiso played milk covers as a child and she had previously seen caps being used at another school.

In April 1991, Galbiso's daughter purchased two tubes of POG covers and two tubes of Mountain Fresh covers from Haleakala Dairy on Maui. The caps were used for various math lessons and classroom activities, and the old game was immediately popular with students. According to Galbiso, "Something magical occurred and the students were hooked."

Blossom Galbiso wrote, "Although I had introduced the game as 'milk covers' they favored the red POG design from Haleakala Dairy and hence renamed the game 'POGs'." In March 1992, the First Annual Milk Cap Tournament was held at Waialua Elementary. By May, Haleakala Dairy was selling 25,000 caps a month to customers on the North Shore. Nostalgia from older generations helped the revival to spread. Branded caps from nearly every school and business began appearing throughout the islands.

POGs had already become a generic term for the disks and the game itself. In September 1993, Armor All founder Alan Rypinski purchased the POG copyright and trademark from Haleakala Dairy. Rypinski established The World POG Federation (WPF) and the "old-fashioned game of the future" exploded as a global marketing phenomenon. The Poglodyte mascot became Pogman. In November 1994, Rypinski settled an agreement to retain exclusive rights to the POG name.

POG The Game was distributed by Milton Bradley in 1994. POGs were officially licensed by Canada Games, Animage in France, and Waddingtons in the UK. An official POG measures approximately 1.625 inches (42 mm) in diameter. The back of each official product contains the World POG Federation logo or Milkcap Maker trademark.

POG Classics feature 60 designs printed on waxed, two-color "Perfection" milk caps from Stanpac. Designer POG Milkcaps are multicolor disks printed on white cardstock without thumb tabs, staples, or wax. The official POG KINI are made of Ryton polyphenylene sulfide, a flame-resistant and chemical-resistant thermoplastic. Each POG KINI is mold-injected and decorated with holographic foil. The POG Slaminator slammers are stamped into anodized aluminum disks.

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Billions of similar products were produced including Gops, Flippos, TROVS, and Slammer Whammers. Serrated disks known as Tazos were sold by PepsiCo and Frito-Lay in Spanish speaking countries. McDonald's packaged McCaps inside of Happy Meals. Nintendo Power distributed Super Power Club Caps with the monthly magazine. Marvel Comics produced Hero Caps and Todd McFarlane sold Spawn caps as Spogz.

McDonald's, Nintendo, and Marvel would later distribute officially licensed POGs. Other major partners included Coca-Cola, Disney, Keds, Mattel, and Knott's Berry Farm. Official POGs were printed for the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 17, 1995.

Comedian Steve Allen is portrayed as "Inventor of the POG" in The Simpsons episode "'Round Springfield," aired on April 30, 1995. Milhouse trades Bart's soul for a collection of ALF POGs in "Bart Sells His Soul," aired on October 8, 1995. "Remember ALF? He's back, in POG form."