RIP Gary Dahl, Creator of the best pet ever

[tomandtish]

Well, Gary Dahl passed away 3/23/15. Who was he? Just the creator of the best pet ever:

The Pet Rock.

For those too young to remember, the Pet Rock was a relatively short lived fad in the 70s. You could buy your rock in a small cardboard case (with airholes). it came with care instructions. It was one of the great gag gifts.

Apparently he sold about 1.5 million of them at about $4 each. Not too shabby.

I ... have a confession. I didn't raise my rock well. I was too young to be a good parent. We fought, I didn't supervise him properly, and he fell in with a bad crowd. As a result my pet rock ...

was always stoned.


But seriously, hats off to Gary and sympathies to his family. I'll always be a little in awe of someone who can sell 1.5 million rocks to people. It goes to show what you can do with a clever idea and some brilliant marketing.

[The Succubus]

He had quite a lot of guts to try selling rocks to people. Certainly one of the boulder ideas I've come across.

[Comrade]

Yeah, I sure wouldn't have had the stones to try and pull off something like that.

[SiuiS]

No one's getting sedimental? This is a parting thread, after all.