Anyone ever own a pet rock?

Okay. I admit that I had a beloved pet rock back in the hey day of this craze. They sold for $3.95 and Gary Dahl and his wife turned a joke into a multimillion dollar profit! He was joking around with friends one day. Talking about how he had a pet that he did not have to feed, train, or look after. It was a pet rock! Sadly Dahl, at the age of 78 passed away this week. Now, I would not ever trade my beloved pets in for a pet rock, but I sure did have fun with my friends playing with our pet rocks in a box.

...I have to admit that the pet rock will never grow up or die.. Just have a lot of brothers.

When my parents told me that they bought into this hilarious scam, I couldn't stop laughing. Although I find it to be irritating that someone can gather the attention of millions of people through a rock, I find it brilliant. To this day, my parents still have their pet rock. They place it upon their cabinets like something of importance.

It is incredibly sad that Gary Dahl has passed away in April. Who knows what other tricks could be up his sleeve? Maybe a pet hat that you can wear with you wherever you go? (See? I don't even have the brilliance he had!) Overall, I still laugh at the fact that the pet rock was totally a thing back then and my parents still have pure nostalgia over it.

I remember when this crazy new "pet" made its debut. I laughed so hard thinking people would NEVER buy something like that! Boy was I surprised! Now I wish I had an original Pet Rock! LOL

It's so funny that this thread caught my eye tonight! I was on a money-saving forum yesterday and saw a thread where someone was asking about what the cheapest to care for pet was and immediately I just had to reply, "A pet rock!" hahahahaha!
I actually bought in to it sort of when I was a kid. My parents wouldn't let me have a pet for the longest. (They finally caved when I was 8.)
We went to some sort of arts and crafts festival when I was really young and they had given me some money to shop with. I remember spotting a booth where a lady was selling rocks decorated with fur and bows or little handmade outfits and googly eyes glued on. I just HAD to have one!
I passed it on to my now 11 year old daughter when she was 3 and she still has it as well. She actually has a rock collection, so it is very funny to her.

I can't say that I ever had a pet rock growing up. Back when I was a kid the things that were all the rage were chia pets, tamagotchis and sea monkeys if you didn't have a "real" pet!

Does anyone remember these?

The pet rock craze was still going strong when I was a kid! I actually did own one myself for a little while. I gave it a name and a personality and everything. Turns out rocks don't make the most interesting pets though, because I got bored of carrying around a lifeless lump with me.

Shihtzufan, I remember Tamagotchi and those sea monkeys as well. I used to own both of them. I totally loved my Tamagotchi though and I looked after it for months before I ended up losing the poor thing. One time I had brought it to school with me and forgot it in my locker, and cried through the whole evening because I was so scared that it would die without me there to look after it. I never had much success with the sea monkeys though. I tried my best to get them thriving but despite the "absolutely guaranteed to grow" claim, no matter how closely I followed the instructions I wasn't able to get them going anywhere. The idea was neat though; I almost wonder if they still sell those kits, and if I would have more success with it now that I have better knowledge on taking care of pets.

(07-09-2015, 09:22 AM)niightwind Wrote: Shihtzufan, I remember Tamagotchi and those sea monkeys as well. I used to own both of them. I totally loved my Tamagotchi though and I looked after it for months before I ended up losing the poor thing. One time I had brought it to school with me and forgot it in my locker, and cried through the whole evening because I was so scared that it would die without me there to look after it.

Your description of how you felt about your Tamagotchi made me laugh because I did the same thing! I was visiting my grandma as a kid and stayed there, forgot my Tamagotchi when I went home and didn't get to pick it up until a couple of days later!

That feeling of sheer panic thinking "who is going to feed it and clean up its' poop?!" made me feel like the worst electronic pet owner ever!

I guess it shows that it was teaching us some level of responsibility, right?

I wish I had an original Pet Rock,too.:welcome:

I had the original Pet Rock growing up. It was a craze back then and everybody had one. When you think of it all now it was silly but it sold and people had to have them. At least you never had to worry about it dying.

My children had the Tamagotchi. They took care of those things and when they died they were devastated. I think I may still have a few of them around somewhere.

It is really amazing at some things that will be a hit and become the latest
craze.

It is not a joke. It actually happens. It occurs when one develops a sentimental feelings towards an object. Believe me, I have had this kind of a pet in the past. I wanted to light a fire during the rainy season in our hearth. It proved hard to light without burning some plastics to stoke it. I couldn't bring myself to burn it despite it being the only source of respite. This can even happen with clothes or even food items. But it is not really an aberration.

Okay I have to admit I used to do this a lot when I was a kid. It was so much fun! Not the rock obviously but what you can do with it XD I remember making nests and pet beds for my pet rocks and I would really take care of it as if it could die. Anyone else drew faces on the rocks? I always drew a dog face with dog ears. I guess that was just us pet owners practicing for the real thing. I also remember that all my imaginary friends were dogs, when most kids tend to imagine mystical creatures that can talk or something haha!