Pet Rock

Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived by Los Gatos, California advertising executive Gary Dahl. The first Pet Rocks were ordinary gray pebbles bought at a builder's supply store and marketed as if they were live pets. The fad lasted only about six months, ending with the Christmas season in December 1975; but in its short run, the Pet Rock made Dahl a millionaire.

In 1975, Dahl established "Rock Bottom Productions", a company that sold the rocks for US$3.95 each. The pebbles, imported from Rosarito Beach in Baja California, Mexico, were swaddled in excelsior and nestled in a small cardboard box, similar to a pet carrier. A "Pet Rock Training Manual," with instructions on how to properly raise and care for one's newfound pet (notably lacking instructions for feeding), was included. The instruction manual contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While "sit" and "stay" were fairly easy to accomplish, "roll over" usually required extra effort on the part of the trainer. "Come" was found to be impossible to teach reliably. People who purchased these unusual "pets" often gave them names, talked to them, petted them, and taught them to perform simple "tricks".

The advent of electronic toys gave a new twist to the idea: a Ragin' Rocky talking rock from Playmate Toys.

The idea was spoofed on Family Guy, when Peter found the pet rock in a box, and a flashback to when they first got "him" showed a large urine stain on the living room floor and peter shouting at the rock as if it were a new puppy who wasn't house trained.

Pet Rock is also a Single on the album Poodle Hat by "Weird Al" Yankovic

See also

• Sea monkeys
• Virtual pet

External links

• Super70s.com Contains more information about the pet rock and other 1970s fads.
• Virtualpet.com Contains details about Gary Dahl and fads.
• Virtual pet rock A downloadable virtual pet rock for Mac OS X featuring stats.
• Boulder the Great A website showing the life of a pet rock named Boulder.