Today, according to my west coast brother, is "Pet Rock Day." If that doesn't mean anything to you, you are obviously too young to remember, but, take my word for it, they were a sensation. It all started when they were first released in time for the holiday season in 1975. People bought them as gag gifts and stocking stuffers. They were packaged in nests inside special little boxes with air holes. I know that my family owned at least one. Not sure who bought it for whom but I'm sure it was as a gag gift. It was a short lived but very popular craze. You could even get a book of suggested names for your pebble pet. I'm not sure what became of our pet rock, although my son, who has a degree in geology, started collecting rocks at a very young age so it may have gotten merged into his collection, minus the box. One really good thing about pet rocks was that they were much less expensive than the next big craze, Cabbage Patch Dolls, that started in the early 1980s. Those babies were cute, very popular, expensive and every little girl (including my daughter) wanted one. A friend of mine worked for JC Penney's during that time and he said it was the worst time in sales of his entire life. He went on to become a top real estate agent, which he claimed was much easier. Lucky for me, my best friend (who only had sons) had a brother living in Germany who was able to send her several Cabbage Patch Dolls which she provided to her friends at cost. Much easier that battling the lines at toy stores, and my daughter didn't mind at all that her little 'Elsa' had German adoption papers.
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