Gary Dahl passed away last week, he was 78 years old.

The name may not mean ring a bell to most of America, but the silly Pet Rock craze of 1975 will. Gary created the phenomenon, which allowed you to to have a pet without having to care for it. Yup, he sold us rocks in a box.

For $3.99, back in 1975, you could own a Pet Rock. It was a rock in a box, a concept so simple, so '70s self indulgent, that it took off and became the marketing scheme to be compared to all marketing schemes. That over one million consumers would buy an object you could go out and find in any backyard made Gary a millionaire overnight.

But you received more than just a rock, right?

According to Wikipedia:

A thirty-two page official training manual titled The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock was included, with instructions on how to properly raise and care for one's new Pet Rock (notably lacking instructions for feeding, bathing, etc.). The instruction manual was the real product: it was full of gags, puns and jokes. It contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While "sit" and "stay" were effortless to accomplish, "roll over" usually required a little extra help from the trainer. "Come," "stand" and "shake hands" were found to be near-impossible to teach, but "attack" was fairly simple (also with some additional help from the owner). The owners also found that potty-training their pet rocks was fairly simple, given that they were, in fact, rocks. Dahl's biggest expense was the die-cutting and manufacture of the boxes. The rocks only cost a penny each, and the straw was nearly free.

 

But the overnight success did not make Gary a happy man. He was sued by several investors who felt Gary fudged on their deal with him, and he eventually gave up on his dream of ebbing a bar owner and returned to the world of marketing and advertising.

While his obituary in the New York Times indicated a full life lived, the whole get-rich-quick life left him somewhat bitter. According to the TImes, Dahl often wished the whole thing never happened:

Though the rock made him wealthy, it also made him wary, for he was besieged ever after by hordes of would-be inventors, seeking his advice on the next big thing.

“There’s a bizarre lunatic fringe who feel I owe them a living,” Mr. Dahl told The Associated Press in 1988. “Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn’t have been simpler if I hadn’t done it.”

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