Cats, dogs, and fish are staple pets to the home environment, but taking care of animals is a rather arduous endeavor. This is why Gary Dahl, drunk in a bar, had an idea to adopt a less typical pet into the household. The pet rock, nestled gingerly into a small nest of excelsior, is placed onto the stage.
Dahl was stressed with the everyday challenges of owning a pet, the cleaning, the allergies, and the barking or meowing. Jokingly, he told his friends that the best possible pet would be a rock. No worrying about getting sick or injured, no worrying about having allergies around it, and no cleaning up its messes.
But Dahl realized it could be more than an idea, and he put together a real plan.
The pet rock was released that same year in 1975. Dahl and a few buddies from work bought an actual truckload of smooth rocks from Mexico for just one cent each. Then, they resold each rock for $3.75 in handmade cardboard boxes with airholes poked into the top of each individual one.
Every pet rock came with a comedic surprise: “The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock”. It was a manual describing how to “take care” of a pet rock, with many jokes making the illusion that the rock was anything more than that, a rock.
This manual teaches its readers how to introduce themselves to a pet rock. Teaching it basic commands, amusing tricks, and how to attack bullies or other foes. Alongside those, it included healthcare for one’s rock and what to do when it is sick or depressed is included.
One might think that nobody in their right mind would buy a rock for $3.75, which is $31.33 in today’s pricing. However, a whopping 1.5 million people that Christmas in 1975 would disagree, with Dahl earning a mammoth gross income of $5.9 million today.
The Pet Rock was a popular fad for around six months between August 1975 and 1976, in February. Naturally, many other companies created their own versions of the pet rock, despite Dahl managing to trademark the name; many fakes still give lonely rocks homes today after the original was discontinued due to a lack of sales.
Today, pet rocks are almost forgotten in the pet-owning world, with many pet rocks being abandoned on the sides of roads or neglected in their homes. There are many breeds of pet rocks that aren’t even accepted into shelters anymore, and with shady sellers letting rock owners buy rocks that aren’t fit for family homes, it’s hard to find someone with trustworthy rocks.
If you own a pet rock that isn’t safe, or you and your loved ones are interested in saving pet rocks from abusive households, consider donating to the Pet Rock Project, an NGO focused on the rehabilitation of broken stones and bringing them back into modern households. With your help, we can save pet rocks from abuse or neglect.
