In Praise of Dab Pins, History's Dumbest Folk Art Form

Tens of thousands of years ago, our early ancestors, awed by the beauty and power of nature, the possibilities of culture flickering dimly in their newly human brains, began painting rudimentary pictures of animals on walls. Across the ancient Mediterranean, sculptors paid powerful tribute to the human form; in Renaissance Europe, painters created works of art that surpassed even the beauty of nature; come the 20th century, artists pushed the boundaries of representation and grappled with existential threats to humanity. And now, in an age of wondrous science and technology, virtuosos drawing upon tens of thousands of years of culture and history and have reached the apex of art: pins featuring pictures of Mrs. Doubtfire and Rafiki from The Lion King getting stoned as hell on unspeakably potent weed.

For those of you have never once uttered the phrases let's get ripped or my Katamari is getting big, an update is in order: serious stoners don't just smoke weed anymore. They smoke dabs—highly concentrated hash oil that looks more like peanut brittle than pot and carries as much as 90 percent THC. For an idea of the concentrate's awesome power, see this video of a grizzled Tommy Chong-type old head taking his first dab and promptly freaking the fuck out.

Among dabbers, there has developed a proclivity for wearing your enthusiasm for annihilating your own consciousness on your sleeve. This shouldn't come as a surprise: potheads have always loved t-shirts with pot leaves on them, and dabs are simply pot's hyperactive little brother. The most popular way to express your affinity for dabbing is with a little accessory known as a dab pin.

Dab pins—sold on Etsy, eBay, and maybe your local head shop—work in pop-cultural references and clunky visual and verbal puns, the more obvious the better. If the character exists, there is a glorious doofus out there somewhere wearing a smoked-out version of that character tacked to his flat-brimmed hat.

Below are a few of the finest examples of the medium, which in centuries' time will grace the virtual reality holo-screens of our most hallowed cultural institutions alongside Egyptian hieroglyphs and Native American arrowheads.

The Walking Dabbed ($15.95 on Etsy)

I Have a Dab ($10 on Etsy)

LIMITED EDITION!! Hilarious hat pin! Only 100 made!!! "I have a dab"-Martin Luther King Jr

Dab'n King: Fried Rock ($15 on Etsy)

Mrs. Dabfire ($21 on Etsy)

Inspired by Dabs, and the Movie Mrs. Doubtfire.

Are You Afraid of the Dab? ($10 on Etsy)

Dab Punk ($13 on Etsy)

Bob Ross "Happy Dabs" ($14.99 on Etsy)

>>>WE MAY BE THE ONLY PLACE WHO STILL HAS ONE<<<
Usually companies will auction off these rare gems at outrageously expensive prices. I've even seen auctioned pins sky rocket to over $100 for 1 pin.
Much Love <3