Pet Rock facts for kids
The Pet Rock "Pet Carrier", which doubled as its packaging
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| Type | Collectible toy |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Gary Dahl |
| Country | USA |
| Availability | 1975–February 1976 |
The Pet Rock was a super popular toy created in 1975 by an advertising expert named Gary Dahl. These "pets" were simply rocks that came in special cardboard boxes. The boxes looked like real pet carriers, complete with tiny ventilation holes and soft straw bedding inside.
This fun trend lasted for about six months. Sales went up a lot during the Christmas season in December 1975. By February 1976, sales slowed down, and the Pet Rocks were sold at a lower price. Even so, Gary Dahl sold over 1 million Pet Rocks, each costing $4. This made him a millionaire!
How the Pet Rock Started
Gary Dahl got the idea for the Pet Rock while he was at a bar. He heard his friends complaining about their real pets. They talked about how much work it was to feed, walk, and clean up after them. This made Gary think: what if there was a pet that didn't need any of that?
He realized a rock would be the perfect "pet"! A rock wouldn't need food, walks, baths, or grooming. It wouldn't get sick or die, and it would always be well-behaved. Gary joked about this idea with his friends, saying rocks were the perfect pets.
But Gary took his funny idea seriously. He decided to create a real product. He even wrote a special instruction manual for how to take care of a Pet Rock. This manual was full of funny jokes and silly ideas, pretending the rock was a real living pet.
Making the Pet Rocks was quite cheap. The rocks themselves cost only about one cent each, and the straw was almost free. The biggest cost for Gary was making the special boxes.
The Training Manual
Each Pet Rock came with a funny 32-page book called The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock. This manual gave "instructions" on how to properly raise and care for your new Pet Rock. Of course, it didn't have real instructions for feeding or bathing, because it was all a joke!
The instruction manual was full of silly gags, puns, and jokes. It even listed several "commands" you could teach your new pet. For example:
- "Sit" and "stay" were super easy for the rock to do.
- "Roll over" usually needed a little help from the owner.
- "Come," "stand," and "shake hands" were almost impossible to teach.
- "Attack" was pretty simple, especially with a little push from the owner!
The whole idea was to make people laugh and enjoy the simple fun of owning a "pet" that required no work at all.
