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Did you own a Pet Rock in the 1970s?
This neat toy was all the rage - for a few months.
Everyone is so preoccupied over the latest tech gadget, that people may forget that just a few short decades ago, the toy that was all the rage was a rock.
If you were born after the 1970s, you're not reading that sentence wrong. For those who were alive during this time, you definitely remember the Pet Rock: A toy that was wildly popular and was quite literally, just a rock.
Okay, maybe not just a rock. The toy included the rock itself, along with some bedding, all in an easy-to-carry cardboard case, complete with air holes.
The idea was created by inventor Gary Dahl. "I was freelancing, which is another word for starving to death when I got the Pet Rock idea," said Dahl during an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune. "Those things only happen about every 10 years."
While the toy was wildly successful, it took quite a bit of time to gain traction, by which time Dahl's financial situation was in dire need of assistance.
"The rush lasted about three months," said Dahl during an interview with The Washington Post. "We were up to our ears in debt - about $200,000 - before anything started coming in. But once it did, it was an avalanche."
"I had an advantage over the average backyard inventor," said Dahl.
Although the fad only lasted a few months and the rocks were later discontinued, Dahl's success lingered in the memory of wannabe inventors everywhere.
"People somehow think I owe them something because I made it. I've had thousands of letters and phone calls from people requesting help. Any day I can arrive here at my saloon and find people waiting to talk about their idea."
In fact, while Dahl was grateful for his success, he didn't necessarily love the notoriety that came with it. "And now, if people would just forget I did the Pet Rock, I'd be happy," said Dahl.
Years later, Dahl acknowledged that much of his success regarding the Pet Rock was due to his being in the right place at the right time.
"Today you couldn't give away a Pet Rock," said Dahl during a 1982 interview with The Ottowa Citizen. "An item must have some intrinsic value for it to sell today. You couldn't sell a novelty item like a Pet Rock - what use is it? The rock created and destroyed the novelty gift market all at the same time."
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"All I got was a rock!"
Poor kid...............
While not as absurd, I also had no liking for Beanie Babies, Cabbage Ptch Kids or Pokemon.
To quote Robert Moses, the city planner of New York who envisioned building miles and miles of super highways... "Nothing exceeds like excess"... and he was right. Manic consumption immediately takes the joy out of anything playful or collectible.
But then again, I never did follow the crowd... and if a celebrity endorses it... I don't want it! I prefer to collect things that satisfy me *personally*, not because it's the "flavor of the moment"... Every time I hear an announcer saying "everybody loves such-and-such" in a commercial it makes me despise the product even more...