The Pet Rock

The Pet Rock was a comical fad that swept across the country so quickly that over one million were sold from its creation in August 1975 to Christmas that same year. Exactly as its name describes, the Pet Rock was a small beach stone that came in a cardboard box equipped with airholes like a box that a new pet would be carried in. A manual filled with humorous tips and tricks on how to care for and train your Pet Rock came in the box along with the stone.

Founder Gary Ross Dahl purchased rocks for under one cent each. One Pet Rock in a box sold for $3.95.

Courtesy The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY

The inventor of the Pet Rock is Gary Dahl, a freelance advertising copywriter in California, who came up with the idea as a joke one night hanging out with some friends. During a conversation about destructive pets, Dahl joked about having a pet rock. From there, he expanded his idea by writing a caretaking manual filled with puns and jokes about having pets.

The idea was an instant hit and proved to be very successful through the end of 1975, but unfortunately did not last much longer. By 1976 the public had lost interest, but not before more than one million Pet Rocks were sold.