Boise OG Remembers When

Boise OG co-founder and designer Kelly Knopp recently released a board game featuring Camel’s Back Park, the shop’s most popular location.

BY HEATHER HAMILTON-POST

Gathered for a family dinner at Ben’s Crow Inn (Ben is my grandfather), my sisters and I discussed the annual eld trip to Camel’s Back Park, with the variety of long slides carved into the hillside, hot in the summer sun. We begged for a birthday party at Skate World and planned a trip to Kuna Caves, Bogus Basin, or Simplot Hill on prom night, ice blocking down the steep slopes in our dresses. Years later, I’d birth my first son in the same hospital where I was born.

Boise OG speaks to me on a deep level because I am the proverbial recipient of the ‘Born in Boise’ trophy I contemplate buying on the site. Like sibling founders Kelly Knopp and Heidi Tilby, who have lived here most of their lives, I am a Boise OG.

“I love watching someone look at our stuff for the first time because they’re so happy to see all of it. And then there’s a kind of sadness as they realize it’s all gone,” said Knopp, who is also the designer.

The brand, born over drinks and conversation in Fall of 2020, seeks to celebrate that nostalgia and preserve both that past and present Boise charm. “Sometimes I look at Boise OG like a local Mad Magazine. We poke fun, but it’s a way to preserve things in a tangible way,” said Knopp.

Overwhelmingly, the response has been positive, which is the goal. Knopp explains that, from its inception, Boise OG has aspired to avoid the anti-outsider approach, instead appreciating the more fragile, fleeting part of Boise that we’re keen to hang on to.

So what does it mean to be a Boise OG? Knopp said that the designs are based on things original, in some way, to Boise at the time. From Larry Gebert to Joker’s Wild and Donnie Mac’s to Wild Waters, Boise OG recognizes all manners of local treasure. And while the designs largely come from the community, some even predating Knopp’s memories, they’ve got to have some level of recognizability and universal appeal.

In the beginning, Knopp was releasing around five designs a week. Now that he’s got a core set of designs, he’s focused on quality over quantity. In addition to stickers, hats, and shirts, Boise OG also recently released a puzzle and another book, which Knopp said is lled with weird Idaho history that even native Idahoans might not know.

There’s also a brand new board game, called Surviving Camel’s Back Park, and later, there will be a Park After Dark card set for adult players. The game, which features Boise OG’s most popular design, will explore the intricacies of Boise’s most reformed playground.

For Knopp, the Camel’s Back designs represent what is great about the brand—a joke that you might not get unless you were there, then. “Each sticker is a talking point which unlocks so many memories from people,” he said. “That’s the funnest part about it.”

Knopp’s all time favorite design is the Bogus Basin troll because it opens up the conversation in interesting ways. “It’s such an urban legend, and everyone has a different way of observing the ceremony of letting trolls into their car,” he said. “Most of this stuff is so dear to my childhood. It feels good to bring it back.”