An Old Timey Podcast - 73: The Pet Rock: A Fad is Born (Patreon Bonus)

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

Wipe your slate clean of everything you *think* you know about the pet rock. You’ll marble (err, marvel) over its true history! Its inventor, Gary Dahl, thought he’d created a novelty gift that was set in stone. Imagine his surprise when the pet rock’s popularity began to crumble. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken it for granite? Ehh?? Get it??In this episode, Kristin also addresses the often-asked question about whether she’s still friends with her former Let’s Go To Court co-host. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: “Amazon.Com: Pet Rock - The Original by Gary Dahl : Pet Supplies.” Accessed July 10, 2025. https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Rock-Authentic-Approved-Original/dp/B07KN9FK4BBredt, Ted. “Has Success Spoiled ‘pet Rock’ Potentate? Outside of 3 Houses, 4 Mercedes Benzes, and the Best Saloon in Los Gatos, No.” The Salt Lake Tribune, February 20, 1977.Coakley, Michael. “The Anatomy of a Fad: Pet Rock.” The Boston Globe, February 26, 1976.Curtin, Andrew. “A Million-Dollar Pet Project.” San Francisco Examiner, December 25, 1975.Dahl, Gary. “Why Didn’t I Think of That! At a Bar One Day, Gary Dahl Dreamed up the Pet Rock.” Courier Post, October 10, 1982.Giuca, Linda. “Are You Sure It Won’t Bite?” Hartford Courant, December 17, 1975.Horning, Jay. “Pet Rock Secured a Solid Future for Its ‘Father.’” Tampa Bay Times, May 9, 1982.“How a Los Gatos Barroom Boast Led to the Pet Rock and Followed Gary Dahl until His Dying Day.” The Mercury News, April 3, 2015. https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/04/03/how-a-los-gatos-barroom-boast-led-to-the-pet-rock-and-followed-gary-dahl-until-his-dying-day/.Isaacs, Stan. “Teen’s Idea Was as Solid as a Rock.” Newsday (Nassau Edition), November 21, 1975.LaBelle, Tom. “Career Opportunity of a Lifetime!” The Grand Rapids Press, October 13, 1976.Leap, Barbara. “From Little Rocks, Some Big Fortunes Grow.” Courier Post, December 5, 1975.Legacy.Com. “Gary Dahl Obituary (1936 - 2015) - San Jose, CA - AL.Com (Mobile).” Accessed July 11, 2025. https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/mobile/name/gary-dahl-obituary?pid=174533679.Mason, Margaret. “It Was a Gamble, a Risk. But the Pet Rock Paid Off.” Pensacola News Journal, December 25, 1977.McKinney, Joan. “‘Rock Bottom’ Goes Sky High.” Oakland Tribune, December 25, 1975.“Pet Rock Page.” Accessed July 10, 2025. https://www.virtualpet.com/vp/farm/petrock/petrock.htm.Po1sonator. “TIL about the craze of Pet Rocks in 1975. For about 6 months, they sold over one million Pet Rocks for $4 each. It was just a rock in a box with some straw and a care manual for tricks to teach. The creator had the idea in a bar as his friends complained about their pets.” Reddit Post. R/Todayilearned, February 2, 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/lajcy8/til_about_the_craze_of_pet_rocks_in_1975_for/.“Press Release.” April 5, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20020405084047/http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2000win.htm.Robertson, Blair. “The Pet Rock: A Classic Tale of American Business.” Carroll County Times, December 7, 1999.Rock Island Argus. “Pet Rock Promoter Opens Own Saloon.” March 6, 1977.Spokane Chronicle. “Stoned? Pet Rocks Need Little Care, Love.” November 7, 1975.The Desert Sun. “From the Man Who Brought You Pet Rock...” October 4, 1978.The Pet Rock: A Classic Tale of American Business. n.d.

Hello. Howdy. You're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Why are we posting a Patreon bonus episode instead of our regularly scheduled programming? It's because we're currently under investigation by the federal government. Norm, well, anything can happen, but that's not what is happening right now. We had some personal stuff come up this week that did put work on the back burner. So we knew we needed to put out a bonus episode.

And we actually debated for quite a while about which episode to put out. Yeah, because we have so many incredible episodes in our back catalog. Yeah, technically correct, but also because we've been giving you all nothing but straight bummers

for like months straight on this RSS feed. And we wanted to give you a light one. Yeah, bath school disaster, Donner Party, Japanese soldier who won't surrender. All three are topics that'll bum you out. But this bonus episode, boy, is it fun.

Yeah, this. history of the pet rock, we noticed very little violence in it. Dare I say, zero violence. There is some talk of violence. But a very fascinating story. Had a blast researching this one. It's one of our most requested topics on the old-timey subreddit. Yeah, so we chose this episode.

And that's kind of funny because a couple months ago when we recorded it, I remember as soon as we stopped recording, I said, well, that's an episode. so that it'll never go on the main feed. Mm-hmm. Direct quote. And now here we are. We are putting it on the main RSS feeds for an old-timey podcast, and let's go to court. That's right.

And the reason for that is that after Norm's story, I broke in to address a question that I have been receiving for what feels like a million years. It's actually been a year and a half. Feels like a million. Sure. And the question is, essentially, are you still friends? with the co-host of your old show, let's go to court.

And it was uncomfortable, but I answered that question in this episode, and I'm really glad I did. It felt good to just share that and kind of be done with it, except for I wasn't done with it because I found out, and this was humbling,

that the entire world is not subscribed to our Patreon, and so not everyone got the message. What? I know. It's effed up, Norm. We can all agree. That's just horrible. Oh, it's the worst thing ever. So I've continued to get that question a bit. And so I thought, well, if we're putting out a bonus episode and we know we want a light one, and this is a light one, this could be a way to just let people know the answer to that question.

Yeah, absolutely. It was kind of a win-win. And boy, if you love hearing a Midwestern middle-aged gal get emotional, it's a win-win-win for you, pal. You're going to love this. Very specific fetish. So here it is. We hope you enjoy this episode. And if by chance you are someone who only listens to an old-timey podcast and never listen to my old rotting decrepit podcast, boy, will this be weird for you? No, it will be wonderful because it's a great episode of an old-timey podcast.

podcast. Darn right. Enjoy the ride, friends. See ya. Hear ye, hear ye. You are listening to an old-timey podcast. I'm Normie C. And I'm Kristen Caruso. And on this bonus episode, I'll be talking about the pet rock. What? How could you have possibly found enough information on the pet rock? Kristen, I left no stone unturned. Oh my God. I searched every nook, every nook, every cranny, every orifice for all the information I could on the pet rock. Sounds like you found it up your butt. Thank you.

Thank you. Just a warning, that sound is going to be in this episode a lot. Oh my God. Okay. Okay. I'm excited. First, we've got to thank the people. People?

Party people? Thank you, patrons. Thank you very much for your support. We're so excited to be providing you with old-timey bonus episodes. monthly trivia parties, discord chitty chats, cards and stickers, and more. And now, a ton of information about the pet rock. Okay, you laugh, Kristen. But in our subreddit, our slash old-timey podcast, we have a topic suggestion mega thread, okay?

Okay. And if you can believe this, the second most upvoted comment was the story of the pet rock. People want to know. Okay, okay, you know what? I doubted you with your JCPenney series, and I ended up fascinated despite my best efforts. I'm preparing to be fascinated today, Norm. Shout out to Reddit user, BZB has cats for the suggestion. Love the username.

Okay. Well, Kristen, before we begin this fascinating episode, I do have a confession. I may have adopted a new pet for us. Is it a rock? Look, I'm really sorry. I should have talked to you about it. Because, you know, pet's a huge responsibility. But I saw this cute little guy I could not resist.

Hang on, let me grab them. Uh-huh. Kristen? Oh, my God. I'd like you to meet our new son. His name is Perry Masonry. Oh, I hate how much I like that. Isn't it cute?

Very cute, yes. Yes. Shouldn't he have some googly eyes, though? Excuse me? Don't all pet rocks have? No, they do not. Okay. The original pet rock did not have googly eyes, Kristen.

Tell me more. I will. Now, I know you're a little concerned that we have four pets now. Uh-huh. But I assure you, Perry Masonry is very well trained. I've already been training him, so check this out. Perry, stay. Perry, roll over.

Oh, my God. Norris. See, he's pretty good, isn't they? He did a great job, yeah. And he's not pooping on the rug, which I really appreciate. Get this. Perry Masonry does not need potty training. And we don't have to worry about him running away either.

Why? Because he's a fucking rock. You didn't have to say it like that. And Kristen, if you can believe it, back in the 70s, for a very short period of time, pet rocks like Perry Masonry were all the rage. It was one of the top selling items of the 19. 75 holiday season. Celebrities were bringing their pet rocks onto talk shows.

Communities across the country held events like the Pet Rock Olympics or Pet Rock talent shows. What? Some people love the novelty of it all and just had fun with it. Others could not believe that a man had convinced millions of people to buy a rock. People didn't buy these things, did they? Yes, they did. it was a product for sale in stores, the pet rock. Wow.

So, who came up with the pet rock? And whatever happened to one of the greatest fads of the 20th century? Let's get sedimental and take a look back at the pet rock. Just to wait, I got a million of these. Oh boy. Oh, boy. We're really going to suffer, folks. So you didn't know that pet rock was a product.

Well, I mean, here's the thing. I figured some dummies probably probably purchased one in stores. Uh-huh. But I figured, no, for the most part, people just went outside. You ever heard it outside? And then just glued some googly eyes on their favorite rock and called it a pet rock. Touched grass.

Right. Mm-hmm. Well, as you'll learn, Googly eyes were not part of pet rocks. Yeah, I'm sorry to keep bringing it up. I can tell it really bothers you. So here's what I think you might be confusing it with. There was the recent Oscar-winning film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. And in that movie, two characters transform into rocks with googly eyes, and they have a conversation in a canyon.

Do you remember that scene? I guess I do, yeah. Yeah, so that kind of revived the whole pet rock idea because people were kind of obsessed with that movie. Okay. Maybe that's where you're getting it from. All right. Picture it, Kristen. It's April of 1975.

A group of pals are hanging out at the grog in Sirloin restaurant in Los Gatos, California. Roughly translated, The Cat. The cats. The cats. Yeah. California. They're drinking. They're chit-chatting.

They're having a good old time. The topic of conversation that night was pets. How much they loved them. How much they hated them. How expensive pets were. One man complained, ugh, dog training is so expensive. Another man said, yeah, you know, I love my cat to death, but damn, it's really hard to find a cat sitter when I want to go out of town. And then it was Gary Dahls, turned to me.

Doll's turn to speak. Doll, spelled D-A-H-L, like the author, rolled doll, was a freelance copywriter who was described as, quote, a cheery teddy bear of a man. He had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, a full beard. He was a fun guy. Dahl could have provided a lot of insight on pets. He had a lot of pets.

Two German shepherds. Two cats. Two goats. Oh. Two chickens. Oh. And a guinea pig. Just one?

One guinea pig. Okay, fine. Yeah, it looked like he was kind of Noah's arc in this whole thing. That's exactly, I mean, I really liked the two, two, two, but all right, fine. Guinea pig was riding solo, like, Jason DeRulo. Hey! So yeah, Gary Dahl could have said a lot about pets, but instead, he took a sip of his drink, no doubt whiskey on the rocks, and said. Oh, God, I didn't even get, oh, I hate that I was like, why is that a joke?

And then rocks. Okay, continue, yes. Okay, he took a sip of his drink. which was probably whiskey on the rocks. Don't make the joke again, my god. And he said, I don't have any problems with my pet. I have a pet rock.

The table started cracking up. Oh my god, that's hilarious. You're killing me, Gary. And for the rest of the night, everyone was telling jokes about having a pet rock. Oh, imagine taking your pet rock for a walk, or giving them a bath. You know, I bet it's easy to teach a pet rock commands, like stay.

At the end of the night, as Gary Dahl drove home to his tiny, cabin in the redwoods of California, he couldn't stop thinking about his joke. People really thought it was funny. And that's when he had that stereotypical light bulb moment. What if there really was a pet rock? I can't believe his joke went over this well. Like, honestly, how drunk were they?

I mean, they were drinking. But the joke went so well. I couldn't find their blood alcohol level. I'm sorry. I looked. I really looked. Yeah, you should have. But the joke went so well that he was seriously like,

I'm going to create a novelty gift out of this. Yeah. He was slaying that night, Kristen. Okay. He could say no wrong. You know, it seemed silly. But Gary Dahl genuinely thought he had stumbled upon an incredible idea that could make him a ton of money.

And to be honest, he could have really used a W at that time because his life had gotten off to a rocky start. Norman. Gary Dahl grew up in a broken home. He described himself as, quote, an obnoxious brat, somewhere between a juvenile delinquent and just a bad kid.

I doubt that. Well, he thought that of himself, I guess. He joined the Marines out of high school to straighten himself out. He got married. He had a couple of kids. After being discharged, Gary Dahl got into advertising. He was a decent artist, and he enjoyed coming up with unique ways to market products and businesses.

He was especially good at copywriting. He got a job as an advertising account executive and things were going pretty well. But then came a series of hard times. Dahl went through a divorce. And then he left his job and tried to start his own business. But it failed. Then he declared bankruptcy. Gary Dahl tried to rebound.

You know, he got his advertising job back. He even found a new partner in life, a substitute teacher and waitress named Marguerite. But Dahl eventually got burnout. at his job and he quit. Now he was freelancing to help pay bills, and it was tough. Gary Dahl said freelancing was, quote, another word for starving to death. He often laid awake at night, frustrated,

wondering how they were going to pay rent that month. But now as he drove home from the bar, Dahl believed this pet rock idea would get him out of this slump and make him millions of dollars. Was, I, okay. Am I blowing your mind here? Yes. The most mind-blowing part is that he was right.

I mean, I don't know that he made millions, but the idea that he made any money off of this stupid idea at all is wild. He did make millions off this. You're kidding me. No. You're fucking kidding. No, I'm not. He made millions.

Shall I continue? Yeah, I guess. Oh, my God. Kristen, he thought this idea was fantastic. Just think of how many people are allergic to pets. Or maybe they can't own a pet, or maybe they don't like animals. You know, a pet rock would be a hilarious gag gift. I mean, I don't know about hilarious.

But, okay, yeah. I mean, this was exciting stuff. It was enough to give Gary Dahl an iraction. Norman, you shoehorned that in there so hard. I'm about to bust. Your other rock jokes have been a little more natural. What do you mean shoehorn? and that came naturally to me, baby.

So when Gary Dahl got home, he excitedly told his wife Marguerite about the idea. Marguerite did not share Gary's enthusiasm. Yeah, was she like, oh my God, I married an idiot? That's what I'd be thinking. She was like, yeah, I guess it's funny and it's an okay idea, but like, I don't think it's that good. No. I don't think it's going to make us millionaires or anything. No, I mean, the logical thought is we will lose money to a good.

whatever you want to do with these rocks. Yeah, that would be my first thought too. I guess if you want to try it, go ahead, but like, don't count your chickens, right? Mm-hmm. But Gary Dahl was undeterred. The next morning, he started writing up a funny

training manual for a pet rock. And it was a spoof of an old German Shepherd training manual that he had sitting on his bookshelf. It was entitled, The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock. And now, Kristen, I'd like to read a few parts of that training manual for you.

Okay. Oh, let me get Perry Masonry off the floor. Yeah, yeah. He's lonely. Go here, Perry. I legit thought you were going to fall over. Now that's comedy. Sure.

Man, I'm all caught up in these wires, like a little marionette, you know, like a puppet. I do know what a marionette is, yes. What's the origin of that word? Oh, my God, I don't know. Future topic? No. Why are you poo-pooing on everything? I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Poo-pooh in the pet rock. You're poo-pooing my iraction jokes. And now you're poo-poo in my future topics. I just cannot believe that this guy came up with a joke and people laughed this hard to the point that he told himself, you know what? I'm going to make millions off of this.

And then he actually did. Does it make you angry? I guess maybe it must give me some feelings. Hmm, interesting. A lot of people felt the same way you. You did, Kristen. But we'll get to that later. Oh, no, I'm a hater, aren't I?

Hmm. I'm one of those grumpy, crusty people, aren't I? Uh-oh. Grumpy and crusty. You know, they often go hand in hand. Together at last. So let me read you a few items from the care and training of your pet rock. Item number one.

Your new rock is a very sensitive pet. It may be slightly traumatized from all the handling and shipping required and bringing the two of you together. It takes most pet rocks exactly. three days to acclimate themselves to new surroundings. After 72 hours have passed, you may remove the rock from its box and begin enjoying your new pet. If, when you remove the rock from its box, it appears to be excited, place it on some old newspapers. The rock will know what the paper is for and will require no further instruction. It will remain on the paper until you remove it. This is actually pretty good. Okay. Know your rock. Your pet rock didn't come out of any old rock pile, you know. They descend from

long line of famous rocks. Their ancestors can be found amongst the rubble of the pyramids, the cobblestone streets of ancient European cities, the Great Wall of China. Here's some commands. Stay. It is very important your pet rock learn this command as it is disconcerting to have a rock that will wander around while you are shopping for groceries or having your hair done. Is that a little chuckle I heard of there, Kristen? I do kind of enjoy it. Surprisingly, most rocks have no difficulty learning this command and respond. respond quite obediently the first time they hear it. Here's another command.

Stand. You're a little confused if you think a pet rock can be taught to stand. A rock has no feet. And finally, attack training. A rock is a loyal, devoted pet that can easily be trained to protect you and your family. Woe be to the burglar or prowler who ventures into the home guarded by a pet rock. Pick up your pet rock. Shout the command, attack!

and throw your rock with all your might. This method of protection is surefire and results are guaranteed. This is amazing. This is amazing. You're buying the pamphlet, really. Interesting observation, Kristen. Well, yeah. The Pet Rock Training Manual was 32 pages full of these kinds of jokes about taking care of a rock.

Yes. It was hilarious. Yeah. And at first, Gary Dahl thought that would be the product. a funny book on training a pet rock. But, you know, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that a joke book would be kind of hard to sell. It'd get lost in a sea of thousands of other novelty books.

That's when Dahl thought of a way to elevate the gag. What if he included with the book, an actual rock, and a little pet carrier? Now that would stand out in the crowd. So with the training manual complete, The next step was to find the perfect pet rock. But what kind of rock? Gary Dahl wasn't really sure. He said he just wanted, quote,

a plain old dumb rock. Pretty but not fancy. Mm-hmm. So Gary and Marguerite decided to do some field research. They visited the beaches in Aptos, California, to look for the perfect rock. And that's when they found it. Playing silent beautifully in a pile of sand.

A Mexican beach pebble. Oh my gosh. The ones we actually have in our backyard. That's right. Wow. Perry Masonry, well done. Yeah, yeah. Isn't he gorgeous?

Yeah, yeah, it's a good rock. Now that's a good rock. If you're watching the video version of this episode, you can see that Perry Masonry here is a genuine Mexican beach pebble. They are pretty rocks. They're smooth, easy to handle. They're plentiful. They're often used in landscaping, which is why we have them, Kristen. And landscaping rocks tend to be cheap.

They're always on shale. Oh, my God. That one was good. Come on. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. I did like your irroction joke. Really?

Yeah. I thought you said it was shoehorned in. It was. Okay, it kind of was. Uh-huh. I had to work hard to fit an erection into the script. Very few erections, actually. happened in this story.

We don't know that. We don't know. We simply will never know. He was rock hard as he typed up this manual. I mean, maybe. We don't know. Maybe pitching a tent. Maybe he's pushing rope.

Okay. We'll never know. That's enough. So the training manual is complete. The Rock was picked out. Now Gary Dahl needed to come up with some cute packaging to tie it all together. Luckily, he had a lot of connections from his days in the advertising business. And so he found an old.

graphic artist buddy to help out. But Gary Dahl couldn't pay him. He didn't have any money. Right, because he was about to become a multi-millionaire. Yep. So instead, he promised his graphic artist buddy 10% of all of the profits for the pet rock. Oh, shit. And that graphic artist was like, okay.

Ooh. And he came up with a really cute design. It's a simple little cardboard pet carrier with air holes. Mm-hmm. And in a big, chunky font on the side, It just read, pet rock. At the top of the box, there was a warning. Important.

Open box carefully. Do not remove rock before reading instructions. It was cute, and it was funny. Yeah. So now that Gary Dahl had everything he needed, it was time to make a prototype. He took the little cardboard carrier. He placed some fake straw inside like a nest. He placed a Mexican beach pebble on the straw.

and then he slipped in the training manual. He closed it up and voila, the pet rock. Gary and Marguerite assembled a few prototypes and they were ready to get this thing into stores. But there's just one problem. They were like, uh, how do we do that? Do we sell this on a street corner? Do we just go into stores and talk to the manager

and say, hey, we have this product. Do you want it? But, you know, luckily Gary had those connections. And so an old work buddy was like, here's what you need to do. You need to take this thing to gift shows and conventions. Okay. That's where all the suppliers are. They're always looking for new product to sell to stores.

That's how you sell the pet rock. Gary smacked his forehead and was like, oh, of courts. Oh, my God. Conventions. Why didn't I think of that? So in August of 1975, Gary Dahl took his pet rock to the San Francisco gift show. If you're lonely in San Francisco Oh my God, that is beautiful, Norm.

Thank you. Thank you, Kristen. You know, I think I got an erection just hearing that beautiful tune. Whoa. So most people at the convention, they saw the pet rock, they chuckled, and they walked off.

There didn't seem to be much interest, but finally, one man placed an order. He was a buyer for the department store, Neiman Marcus. Oh, I thought this was going to be like a Spencer's Gift kind of thing. But this is Neiman Marcus? I'm sure there were stores like Spencer's gifts at this convention, but yeah, big department stores came to these things too.

Wow. You know, he thought the pet rock was funny. It was cute. It was cheap. And best of all, it really didn't take up much retail space at all. He thought it could be an easy novelty gift to sell near the checkout aisle. and so he placed an order for 500 pet rocks. That's a decent start.

Gary Dahl then showed the Pet Rocket gift shows in New York and Dallas. And there he got more orders. About 4,500 orders. Not bad. Yeah. Gary Dahl figured, well, maybe I won't be a millionaire, but, you know, I make about a dollar profit from each pet rock. So, you know, that's a couple thousand bucks.

Sure. I would be thrilled. If this was my idea and I got a couple thousand dollars, I'd be thrilled. From selling rocks? Yeah. Of course, Gary Dahl couldn't collect that couple thousand dollars until he actually fulfilled the orders. And he had no more money to assemble thousands of pet rocks. Banks were not interested in providing him alone.

You're kidding. Gary Dahl's credit was terrible. He declared bankruptcy a couple years ago. Plus, this business idea seemed absolutely nuts. Yes. I'm sorry, you want to sell what? A rock? And Gary Dahl was like, yeah, so what if I want to sell rocks?

That's my prerogative. I'm like, that was stupid. Anyway, he needed money fast, and he got it from his old boss, an advertiser named George Coakley. It's unclear what their arrangement was, but Coakley loaned doll $10,000 to get started.

What? Yep. Adjusted for inflation? Mm. Oh, I didn't check that. Norman. You wrote all these iraction jokes, but you didn't adjust for inflation? I'm sorry.

Ew. Oh, God. He loaned him about $60,000. Holy shit. Jealous? I cannot imagine someone coming to me and wanting $60,000. For their rock business. For their pet rock business?

I don't know. I'm taking a look at Perry Masonry and I'm thinking this is a good, sexy idea. I don't know about sexy. You know what? Now that I've seen Perry from that angle, okay, I take it back. You're right, Norm. You're absolutely right. You shouldn't think of your own pet as sexy.

I'm a little disturbed. You're the one who said sexy. I said the idea was sexy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making this episode weird. It's real weird. weird now. We're going to have to talk after we're done recording. With cash in hand, it was time to rock and roll.

Gary and Marguerite got the training manuals and cardboard carriers printed up. They drove a truck down to Baja, Mexico, and picked up thousands of Mexican beach pebbles for a penny each. And in their tiny cabin, the couple assembled thousands of pet rock kits. Gary Dahl recalled it was like a madhouse. There were rocks everywhere. By October of 1975, the Pet Rock was ready for prime time, baby. The first order shipped out to stores like Neiman Marcus, Macy's. And of course, the greatest department store of all time.

Say it with me. Jay C. Penny. I love your style. And Pet Rocks. It carried a retail price of $2.99. Higher. $4.99. Lower?

399. There you go. There we go. 399. Adjusted for inflation, $20. Oh, wow. With the first orders fulfilled, it was time to let the world know

that the pet rock was here and Gary Dahl got to do what he did best, advertising. He got professional headshots of himself surrounded by pet rocks. He wrote up a hilarious tongue-in-cheek press release and then he dropped off press packages

wherever he could. Local TV stations, newspapers, magazine offices, and more. It was good old-fashioned boots on the ground advertising. And you know what? It worked. He really was the perfect person for this. With his advertising background? Because he was a copywriter? Yeah. Yeah. He knew how to sell stuff. Even a rock. Apparently. Mm-hmm. An editor at Newsweek Magazine read the press release and thought it was pretty funny. So they wrote a little blurb about it. Sure. And from there, it just kind of spread like crazy.

The Associated Press picked it up. United Press International. Time magazine. People magazine. TV stations, radio stations. Suddenly, everyone was talking about this ridiculous new product called The Pet Rock. This makes total sense to me. I mean, he drops this off.

It's a fun, quirky little story. We all want to have some funny news mixed in with, you know, the bad shit. Mm-hmm. So it's, yeah, it's not surprising that this went everywhere. And he had that goofy-ass photo of himself. It is very goofy. We'll show it on the video version. It sells itself.

Newspaper columnists in particular really seemed to be obsessed with the pet rock. Some of them found it hilarious, calling it, quote, the greatest party gag since chattering teeth. Some columnists were a little jealous. Wow, why didn't I think of that? Others absolutely hated the pet rock, doing their best old man yells at cloud impression. I'm an old man!

They were like, I can't believe people are paying money for a rock. What is wrong with our society? Okay, but they're paying for the pamphlet and the little carrier and the joke of it all. I know I was grumpy and crusty at the beginning of this episode, but I've taken off my buttery flaky crust, and now I'm here to defend this product. You've moisturized, gotten the crusties off? Although I am shocked. It's $20 bucks adjusted for inflation.

20 bucks. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, some columnists were kind of poo-poo in on this. But as our dear old friend, P.T. Barnum once said, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Yeah. Orders started pouring in for the pet rock. First, $1,000 a day. And then $25,000 a day.

Oh, my God. Then it got up to $50,000 a day. And then $100,000 a day. They can't do this. Holy smokes. Gary and Marguerite couldn't believe it. Maybe the Pet Rock was a real gem of an idea after all. Needless to say, production quickly outgrew the doll's tiny cabin in the woods. They formed a new business, Rock Bottom Productions. Okay, yeah.

And George Coakley, the man who had loaned them $10,000, he offered up operation space at his ad agency building in San Jose, California. Of course, now they have to assemble thousands and thousands of pet rocks, so Gary Dahl contracted work with Hope Services, which provides work to people with developmental disabilities. Meanwhile, word kept spreading about the Pet Rock. It was featured on The Tonight Show and the Merv Griffin Show. Gary Dahl did hundreds of radio and newspaper interviews. He was becoming a little bit of a celebrity.

This was the man who created the Pet Rock. In a matter of weeks, the dolls had become millionaires. That is absolutely wild. Wild. In weeks, their entire lives have changed. Yes. They went from being in debt to being multi-millionaires in a matter of weeks. And just up to their eyeballs in Mexican beach rocks.

What are they called? Mexican beach pebbles. Excuse me. Yeah. It's a little. offensive to Perry. I'm sorry, Perry. Yeah, it's if I would look to you and I was like, what are you like a? Careful. Careful. What am I, Norm? Yeah, pale, crusty. Kansas gal. Where are you from? Yeah, basically. Yeah. Anyway, Gary Dahl recalled going to his mailbox and just seeing it stuffed with checks to the brim.

Checks from Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Lord and Taylor, and more. Imagine getting that in the mail. That would be insane. Yep. How does your brain keep up with that kind of change? I don't know. It's wild and it's fast and it's a big change. And I imagine there's so much work to be done that it could be argued.

You almost wouldn't be thinking so much about the money. Or maybe you, I don't know. I just don't know how you would adjust. Everything was moving very fast. I mean, he came up with this idea in April. Yeah. And by December, he's a multimillionaire. Holy.

You know? Yeah. The Pet Rock quickly became one of the hottest selling items of the 1975 holiday season. But why? Why were people so obsessed with the Pet Rock? How did Gary Doll convince millions of people to buy a rock? Well, for many folks, it wasn't really about the rock. Right.

It was that hilarious training manual. And it's the joke. Yeah. One happy customer said, quote, you're not paying for the rock. You're paying for the booklet, which is so dumb,

it's funny. The booklet alone is worth the price. Others truly love the novelty of having a pet rock. It was a fun conversation piece, a way to crack up your friends and family. Gary Dahl had a different theory. He thought people loved it because

they were tired of wars like Vietnam, scandals like Watergate. All the doom and gloom in the news. The Pet Rock was a humorous escape for a bored public. And TV stations love to show off the Pet Rock because, quote, every TV station needs a brightener to put on after the weather. Yeah. Yeah, you have to remember.

This is 1975. Vietnam War just ended for the United States anyway. Watergate just happened. Gerald Ford's new president. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on in the news. people always love a bright spot and when the bright spot is also something that some folks can make fun of you know it's like you were saying with the columnist everybody could kind of have a different take it was something to be mad about or you know laugh about yeah i can see why this stuck you can see why it caught on absolutely the other thing i'm thinking is

okay i made a big deal about the price being adjusted for inflation 20 bucks but if you're trying to find a gift for somebody. I feel like you do spend a little more. And I feel like this would definitely be a novelty gift. A great white elephant gift. Yeah. And you can give it to basically anybody. Yep.

And it came out in October right before the holiday shopping season. So it's like the timing was perfect. And it was in J.C. Penny. So come on. I mean, Jesus Christ. Yeah. That's. I'd buy anything in a J.C.

Penny. If it's in JCPenney, you know it's quality. They stand by their products. Sure, sure. I still have a pair of my Arizona jeans from 1996. They're a little tight, you know, but they still hold up. When Norm squeezes into his Arizona jeans, I'm a goner. The women go crazy, I tell you, crazy.

It's like trying to stuff too much Plato back into the tube. The tube? Yeah, the tube, the Play-Doh comes in. Do you mean put toothpaste back in the tube? Sure. Plato comes in a tub, right? Yeah, yeah. It can come in a tube, too, though.

You know, the thing I should be focused on is just making sure you never leave the house in those pants. Because once you leave in those pants and the people see you, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep you, darling. That's right. That's right. Wow. Okay, you could have been like, I would never, but instead you're like, indeed, I do look amazing in those pants. I'm just trying to be happy, okay? Uh-huh.

And you're trying to keep that from me, okay? So I'd appreciate it if you let me leave the house in my Arizona jeans. That clearly don't fit me anymore, okay? Fair enough. You know, it looks like a bunch of Play-Doh coming out of the tube when I put those things on. So yeah, the Pet Rock was just. what people needed during a difficult time in American history. Incredible! And the craze seemed to be showing no signs of slowing down. All across the country, people seem to be embracing

the pet rock. At Lake Superior State University, in Sioux St. Marie, Michigan, students held a bicentennial all-breed pet rock show. In San Diego, California, a local radio station held a pet rock contest, with the winner getting an all-expense paid trip to the Hoover Dam. Gee whiz, what a prize. In Long Beach, California, there was the Pet Rock Olympics, with events like racing, where contestants rolled their pet rocks down a hill. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, someone created a pet rock cemetery. A little dark there. Perry, I hope you never leave us.

He's going to outlive us all. It's true. Even the music business wanted a piece of the action, Kristen. How? A country music record company released a song entitled That Old Pet Rock of Mine, sung by singer Chuck McCabe. Play it. Man, imagine living in a decade that had not just disco duck, but what's this called?

That old pet rock of mine. The title's a little wordy, but I like it. Yep, yep, really gets you moving. Uh-huh. Get you moving and grooving in those Arizona jeans. Yes, the pet rock was an incredible success. The dolls were millionaires. In interviews, Gary mostly downplayed it all.

He claimed he was still humble, just an everyday guy. Money hadn't changed him, but his spending said otherwise. Gary Dahl bought several Mercedes-Benz cars for himself and his friends. Wait, how many did he buy? At least three. Oh, my goodness. Okay. He and Marguerite purchased multiple properties, including a hillside mansion within an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Yes. They know this craze isn't going to last forever, right? They know it's just a joke that will eventually... Oh, they don't know. You'll see. Oh, gosh. They also bought a yacht center.

A yacht center? So here's the deal. They bought a boat. Sure. And then they had to find a place to store the boat. Okay, yeah. And I guess they didn't want to pay rent to store the boat. So they're like, we'll just buy the boat storage.

place. So they owned the yacht center and a boat. Okay, well, so they own another business. Basically, yeah. And they're making money off that business. I have no idea. Or are they just, or is it like they bought an entire parking lot to park their one car? I'm not really sure, but yeah, they bought a yacht center. Okay. Okay, this is fascinating. The dolls were living that good life thanks to the pet rock, Kristen. Oh my. But reporters were curious. How are you going to follow up on this incredible success. Gary Dahl said he had big plans for the pet rock, clothing, grooming products. No, Gary. Food? No, Gary. You did the idea. Obedience training certificates. Okay, well, that's kind of funny, but I don't know that. How about a house for your pet rock?

No, no, the joke has been done. How about water beds? For a rock? Yeah. I think Perry would enjoy a How about a car, a little car for your pet rock? Did he seriously not understand this was truly just a novelty gift? It did not have legs. Hardy, har, har. Like, he just needed to come up with another funny joke. Or, I hate to come up with the best idea ever, how about thank your lucky stars that you've made millions of dollars on this and just, like, live off of that?

Yeah, I don't know how serious he was about some of these ideas. This is just what he claimed was in the works. Okay. A full line of accessories for your pet rock. He even hinted at special holiday rocks, like the 1976 bicentennial rock painted red, white, and blue. Or how about a Plymouth rock? You know, for Thanksgiving.

And soon the pet rock would be in stores across Canada, Europe, and Asia. But most of those plans would never come to fruition, because as quickly as the pet rock appeared, it disappeared. So before Christmas, Gary D. Dahl had sold over 1 million pet rocks. But you know, after Christmas, sales slowed down. Between New Year's and Valentine's Day, 1976, Gary Dahl sold about 300,000 pet rocks.

And by the end of February, sales of the pet rock had absolutely tanked. Orders stopped coming in. Stores could not sell them anymore. So they started slashing their prices. And in just four months, the pet rock was basically dead. Just goes to show you should never take success for granted. A great joke with a powerful lesson. We appreciate it, Norm.

Thank you. That's real highbrow humor. So you might be wondering, what the fuck happened? No one's wondering. Okay, you want me to just end the episode then? Well, thank you very much, everybody. Goodbye. Don't end it now.

You know, that's how most other podcasts end their episode on the Pet Rock. But I've got a lot more to say, baby. Wow. I did the research. I dug deep. F those other podcasts. That's right. F them.

With their subpar pet rock episodes. Okay. I don't want to toot my own horn. Uh-oh. Too-toot. But I was shocked how many people didn't talk about what happened after the pet rock. Okay. Let's hear about it.

Mm-hmm. Do you want to shit on any podcast specifically or just kind of throw shade in general? There's this one called Let's Go to Court that I have a real button to pick with. Oh, boy. There's also this huge nerd called the gaming historian He's kind of hot though I doubt that very much The gaming historian

Yeah I mean how hot can you be really Video games history He knows gaming he knows history There's this guy on Twitch Who if you pay him like a dollar He'll just shout out whatever And so my buddy paid a dollar For him to shout out the gaming historian

This dude was so hyped for me. He was like, hey, shout out to the gaming a story. He knows gaming. He knows history. Everyone go check him out. Thank you very much. And then like some dubstep music kicked in. So you felt like, man, that was totally worth the dollar. That was definitely worth a dollar. And I think that's all that guy does for a living. You just, you give him a dollar and you'll shout out whatever you want. Anyway, back to the pet rock, Kristen. What the hell happened? Well, here's a couple of reasons. For one, there was a flood of copycat products

hitting stores to cash in on the pet rock race. Sure. There were products like the pebble pal. Mm-hmm. And then there is also the rock pet, which literally looked identical to the pet rock. Well, it's just a rock. They just reversed the words, you know, rock pet. And Gary Dahl couldn't sue these competitors because you can't patent a rock.

It's a rock. Yeah, and I guess the idea wasn't deemed unique enough. I guess the other thing is when it's a fat, you can't really sue somebody and get that part to work fast enough to stop the copycats. Yeah. Now, he can copyright the training manual. Sure. But yeah, the actual, like, product, there's nothing unique about it.

It's a rock in a cardboard box, basically. Wow. I'm sorry, but like... Perry can hear you. Perry, you're a wonderful pet. I'm just letting you know you're just a little cog in the wheel, buddy. There's bigger things going on, but we still love you. But probably the biggest reason the pet rock died was

The novelty had worn off Gary Dahl commented, quote I suppose it died because it got to the point where everyone had heard the joke Yeah Stuck with excess inventory, Gary Dahl eventually donated thousands of pet rocks to the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program Not sure how happy I would be about getting a pet rock But that actually kind of sucks

It's the thought that counts I guess No, a child in need gets a pet rock Mm-hmm. It's like Charlie Brown on Halloween. Oh, God. Gary Dahl didn't seem too upset about the death of his product. He and his wife had made a ton of money. He had new product ideas on the horizon. And he was finally going to live out one of his dreams, Kristen.

He was going to buy and run his own bar. Oh, no. Gary Dahl had always wanted to own a bar. He grew up in them. His mom had worked and ran several bars. Plus, a bar was where he had come up with the idea for the Pet Rock. A bar was like home for him. So in 1976, the dolls purchased an old beat-up building in Los Gatos, California.

They gutted the place, rebuilt it, and opened up a brand new bar, and they called it Carrie Nations. Oh, that's clever. I thought you might like that. Yeah. Gary Doll was elated with his new bar. It felt comfy and cozy. Unfortunately, some of his friends weren't there to celebrate with him. In interviews, Gary Doll noted that,

After the success of the Pet Rock, many of his buddies stopped talking to him, including those that joked about the Pet Rock with him on that fateful night in April of 1975. Gary Dahl said they called him an opportunist, a sellout, a jerk. Oh. He recalled, quote, I think maybe they figured I did something commercial with something they thought was a private conversation. Who knows? I can understand now why people with money tend to gravitate toward each other.

Ew, I don't like that. Yeah, Gary Dahl got a little cocky after the Pet Rock success. I can see that. I can see that. I think it was more that and not, I have money now and people hate me. Right. Still, Gary Dahl was positive. He believed the Pet Rock was not a one-hit wonder.

He had many more ideas up his sleeve. But unfortunately, those products completely bombed. What's your about him? Oh, my gosh. First, there was the sand breeding kit. It came with a male and female test tube full of sand, along with a booklet entitled The Approved Edition of the Sand Breeders Guide. This time it was a spoof on sex education.

The sand breeding kit promised users could supply filler for hotel ashtrays, grow your own beach, or establish a wasteland in a nearby verdant forest. It sold about 30,000 units. That's way more than I would have guessed. I know, but way less. in the pet rock. Right. His next product was red China dirt.

Okay. Red China dirt. Authentic dirt dug up from China in a little plastic cube. The box red, ownership of red china dirt will make the buyer a resident and landowner of a foreign country and thereby provide all sorts of diplomatic immunity and tax advantages. Okay. I can kind of see that. Kind of see the gag of it?

Yeah. For the right person? This was also during the Cold War, so it was kind of marketed as like, hey, if enough people buy red China dirt, we'll just own all of China. Okay. And that'll show the communists. Huh. All right. It just got a lot weirder for me, but okay.

In the instructions it read, if the IRS stops by to chat, simply sit on your red China dirt and say you're out of the country and don't know when you'll be back. Yeah, I can see this being something. Kind of like people who sell the toilet paper that has Trump on it or Hillary on it. You know, you'd buy whatever for the right person. Absolutely, yeah. So you can see a market for red china dirt. I mean, a really small one, but sure. Yeah, that was another flop.

Yeah. Okay, how about this idea, Kristen? The licorish stick. It smells like licorice. It looks like licorice, but it's a ballpoint pen. Huh. Oh, brother, this guy stinks! Yeah, it didn't do well either.

What's it supposed to do? It's a pen. Is it supposed to, like, trick people, like, make it think they've got candy? I guess. It's just a novelty pen. It's like a silly straw. I don't know. Okay, I have a question.

It's like a pen. Remember those pens back in there with the little fuzzies on the end? Yeah, I remember, like, cute pens. It's just a cute pen, I think. But did he, it smells like licorice? Did he think that with every one of these ideas, was he like, this is the new pet rock? This is my new multi-million dollar idea, or was he like, maybe? Yeah, I don't know if he was like, this is going to be the next pet rock.

Okay. I think some of them, yes. I definitely think the sand breeding kit he thought was going to be the next big thing. I think he thought red china dirt was going to be a huge success. But I don't know if he thought the licorice stick was going to take it. Well, at a certain point, you do become humble, don't you? Sure. Nothing could match the success of the pet rock.

Perhaps it really was a one-hit wonder. He was starting to make Gary Dahl bitter, angry. Hmm. He started to wish people would just forget about the pet rock and kind of move on. But it seemed like no one did. Gary Dahl had to deal with a constant stream of people asking for advice on an invention or wanting him to invest in their own stupid novelty idea. Like pet elephant dung.

Okay, I, all right, fine. What? What? The guy who invented pet rocks is like mad that people want to talk about their stupid stuff? Yeah, he was like people wouldn't leave them alone. Okay. Sometimes he was confronted in his bar and Gary said he had to be pretty rude to some folks. Oh, Gary, come on.

Gary. Teen mom for those wondering. For those in just the right age range. If you're between the ages of 35 and 15. 50, you might know the reference. I think he started to lose me about, oh, it's the weirdest thing. All my friends think I'm a jerk now, and it's because I'm rich. It's not because of anything I did.

I'm not saying that that's total bullshit for sure, but now to hear this thing of like, oh, I had to be kind of a jerk to people who came up to me, the inventor of the pet rock, with their stupid ideas. I just don't know. Yeah, apparently one guy from Louisiana was like pet elephant dung. It's going to happen. And Gary was like, uh, just send me like a proposal and I'll let you know. Well, the guy just flew out to California and like personally met with Gary.

And it was starting to freak Gary out, basically. Okay. How people were kind of like invading his privacy or something. Sure, sure. Yeah. Not only that, but he was getting death threats in the mail from people. who claimed that they had actually come up with the idea for a pet rock and they demanded compensation.

Did they threaten to throw rocks at him? No. Here's something I found interesting. When I was doing my research, I found a book written by the man who did Clifford the Big Red Dog, Norman Bridwell, I think his name was. Okay. And he wrote a book in 1975 called My Pet the Rock. it's about a 10-year-old boy who takes his rock to show and tell.

And he's like, yeah, this is my pet rock. That's what the whole book's about, the kid's book. Uh-huh. And it came out the year the pet rock came out. Huh. Is it a coincidence or? I don't know. I was trying to find out like the exact month that book came out.

Yeah. Because I'm like, did Gary Dahl see this book at some point? And that's how he came up with the idea. Or perhaps Norman Bridwell saw the pet rock and then quickly wrote a book about it, but... Maybe... I just thought it was interesting. You know, I also think it's possible that Gary saw that book in passing, didn't think

anything of it, but sometimes stuff gets kind of lodged into your mind. Yeah. Yeah. Just thought I'd mention it. Yeah. Unlike those other podcasts that don't mention it. I'm sorry. Pieces of shit!

So as a result of all this attention, Gary Dahl scaled back his public appearances. He said, quote, there are cooks out there. But it wasn't only his professional life suffering. Gary Dahl's personal life was going bad too. He was drinking way too much. It's not a good thing when you own a bar. Yeah. And I must say, as someone who has watched every episode of Bar Rescue,

starring John Taffer, an earthworm come to life, that is a very common theme in that show. It is somebody who basically wants their own personal bar because they have a drinking problem. and they open a bar. And yeah, it's like their own little drinking playground. They don't actually want to run a business. Everyone, I don't know if you've sensed a theme with the TV shows that Norm mentions,

but Norm loves when a gigantic, angry man with some expertise comes to a random town and yells at people for their incompetence. And there's something about it. Norm just loves it. I find Bar Rescue to be a disgusting show. I find Kitchen Nightmares to be a disgusting show. Like, I don't want to know how gross these places are. I do. And I'm also like, dude, if a place is going that badly, if it's that disgusting, if it's that poorly managed, let it die.

Don't come in there and yell at people to get the Clorox wipes out for a couple weekends. and then all of a sudden people start showing up again. This is bad. Listen, John Taffer comes in with a brilliant plan to turn that bar around. Some people stick to the plan and it's a huge success. Others do not follow the plan and it fails, as John Taffer predicts. Do you want John Taffer to come in and boss you around? I tell you what, the worst part of that show is when they're like the bar, like, drain system is broken.

and the smell. I know that smell because I've been in bars where, like, the drainage system's not working. Describe the scent. It's like this sour. Yeah. Sour scent. Yeah. Old stale beer.

Uh-huh. Old beer. Yeah. Like liquid that's just been kind of sitting for too long. Fermenting. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Norm.

Mm-hmm. Anyway, back to our story. Yes. Yeah. Gary Dahl was drinking too much. His marriage was falling apart. So something had to change. So Gary Dahl made the hard decision, and he sold his bar, Carrie Nations.

He said, quote, I decided to save my liver and my marriage. Fun fact. Wow. Wow. Carrie Nations is still open today. You're kidding me. Nope. Still around.

in Los Gatos, California. I mean, the name is really good. It's a great name, and Gary Dahl spared no expense inside. It is absolutely gorgeous inside. To this day, it's gorgeous? Yes, beautiful leaded glass, beautiful woodwork. It's clear he was inspired by the era of Carrie Nation. Okay, so he didn't just slap a good name on it.

He really made it a theme. No, he put a ton of money into this place. I mean, the dude knew advert. advertising and marketing. Yeah. Okay. I looked at pictures inside and I was like, damn, this is a nice bar.

Okay. No wonder he felt comfy and cozy in there. It's very nice, very nice bar. So if any history hose are near the Cats, California, check out Carrie Nations. Tell us if it's good or not. And then go in and ask about the Pet Rock. Or not, they might be mean to you.

We don't talk about the Pet Rock in here. Unfortunately for Gary, the hits kept on coming. George Coakley, the man who had invested 10,000. thousand dollars into the pet rock. He sued Gary Dahl for lack of compensation. I wondered when Gary was buying up all the Mercedes-Benzes plus the yacht parking lot if he was, you know, taking care of that graphic designer and his buddy who loaned him all that money. Not sure about the graphic designer, but George Coughley did sue Gary Dahl for lack of compensation. Cochley's business partner said, quote, Gary got rich quick. And then he,

he wanted more than he deserved. And a judge agreed. Gary Dahl was ordered to write a six-figure check to George Cokley. Gary Dahl was pretty pissed about it. Why? Well, okay. He later recalled, quote, the same people who were so enthusiastic about helping me get this thing off the ground got greedy.

It was not pleasant, and it didn't leave it with a happy ending. That's the reality of the whole thing. this wonderful story, there is a dark side to it too. Dude, you had an idea for a pet rock. You had no money and someone gave you 10 grand. 10 grand. Just for inflation? $60,000.

Yes. Very expensive. It's shocking that anyone was willing to do that. And to not show the least bit of gratitude, that's wild. Yeah. And, you know, earlier I said that, like, I don't know what their arrangement was. I don't know if Gary Dahl was like promising him certain percentage of the company. I don't know if this was a loan and he had to pay it back. I have no idea.

Well, if a judge ultimately was like, yeah, you owe this man a lot of money. My guess is he promised him a percentage of the profits and he didn't pay that actual percentage. Probably, yeah. I am very smart. After this series of unfortunate events, the dolls decided to downsize. They sold several of the their properties, including that yacht parking lot, as you like to call it. And then Gary Dahl quietly exited the novelty business, and he started his own successful marketing agency. Over the decades, the pet rock was simply just another fad, something that achieved short-lived

popularity and then faded into obscurity. It had gone the way of the hula hoop and the yo-yo. People looked back and thought, hey, remember when we were all buying pet rocks? That was pretty stupid. Sometimes it popped up in movies or TV shows, you know, just like as a little joke or throwback. And the longer time went on, the more Gary Dahl grew to resent his creation. In the 90s, a reporter called Gary Dahl to talk about his career, including the Pet Rock. Dahl angrily said, I don't want to chalk about it.

Norman. But seriously, he did not want to talk about it. In his interview, he stated, if people would just forget I did the Pet Rock, I'd be happy. I doubt it, dude. You doubt it? Yeah. You think he's got other problems? I do think so, yeah.

During that interview, he's told the reporter, I don't help inventors. I'd like you to put that in your article. Tell them not to call me. If you dealt with someone like this, Kristen. I had this thought earlier, and I thought, no, I'm not going to share it because it's rude.

And who knows if I'm right? Well, still, who knows if I'm right? And this is still kind of rude. But now I feel it more strongly. I got to say, I really don't believe that this man was just inundated by people coming to him for advice with their inventions. I bet they were. Really? Why?

I'm thinking about the type of person who sees the pet rock and thinks it's like a get-rich quick scheme. and reaches out to Gary Dahl to try to come up with something new. Okay. I think he definitely was bombarded with, as he called them, cooks. Okay. I think he was. You know, now that you say it that way, yeah, maybe you're right. I think I'm just getting the vibe that maybe he's trying to make himself seem like he's a little more in demand and a little more important than he actually is.

Like, I'm kind of wondering if maybe he gets a couple calls a month. But then when he talks to this reporter, he's like, get him to stop calling. Oh, oh, hang on. On the other line, I've got someone calling right now. This is always happening to me. My pager's going off. Yeah, well, it's interesting when the Pet Rock first came out, he did all these interviews. And he's like, yeah, I've got people all over the world calling me, you know, with some new ideas.

And he seemed genuinely excited. Okay. And it's like his tone completely shifted. Yeah. You know, by the 90s, he's like, like when this reporter called him. Yeah. He was like, how did you get my phone number? I think he was like genuinely sick of it.

That's the vibe I got. I wonder if it was more like he was riding high. He thought it would last much longer than it did, possibly forever. And then by the 90s, it's clear that it's all a joke. and if they're writing about you, it's kind of like, what ever happened to the guy who sold pet rocks? Yeah. It's like a punchline now?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sure. And I can see kind of knowing, like, that's going to be the angle, and I don't want any part of it. And actually, I'm very highly in demand, so please leave me alone. He did talk about his marketing agency

and how he had many regional accounts. Good for him. Mm-hmm. So yeah, Gary Dahl was done talking. about the pet rock, he lived the remainder of his life out of the public eye. Well, mostly. He still really enjoyed writing. And so every now and then, his name would come up. In 2000, Gary Dahl won the Bullwer-Litton fiction contest. Have you ever heard of this contest? I don't think so. If you're not familiar, it's a contest where people compete to write the worst opening sentence

for a novel. Oh my God. Now, I may not know the worst opening sentence, but I think we can all agree on the best opening sentence, Kristen. What do I always tell you when you're writing should be the opening sentence of your novels? Everyone, literally, anytime I write anything, or anytime Norm's like, what are you reading? I'm like, oh, I'm critiquing this for a friend. Does it start with, it was a dark and stormy night? It was a dark and stormy night. That's free writing advice to anyone listening.

And I can't take credit. That was Snoopy's opening line for his novel. Took him forever to write the second. sentence. I can relate. Do you know what the second sentence was that Snoopy came up with? No, Norm, I don't. So, like, for a long time, it was just, it was a dark and stormy now. Yeah, yeah. And then he finally wrote the second sentence. Suddenly, a shot rang out. That's pretty good, huh? Yeah. He got me hooked. I want to know more. I'm ready for the third sentence. You were cracking up. We were watching and just like that. Oh, my gosh. The new sex and

Everyone, we hate watch and just like that. So Carrie is writing a new novel, a historical novel. And she gives the first chapter to her hot, sexy neighbor who is also a writer. Yeah, who's a very established writer. Very established writer. And so she gives it to him for a critique. He gives it back. She's like, oh, my God, what do you think?

He goes, oh, my God, I absolutely loved it. That first line was amazing. What was it? The woman wondered what she had gotten herself into. Yeah, something like that. And I was just like, first of all, there's nothing wrong with that sentence. But this man is supposedly this very established sought after author. And he says that to her.

Nothing says, I'm trying to bang you. Like, that sentence right there. I'm blown away by it. This is the greatest piece of writing I have ever read. Now let's make out. And they haven't made out yet. I'm waiting. It's going to happen.

It's got to. That show is so bad. But the only interesting character is Seema. That's her name, right? Yeah. Yeah. Seema's one of the new characters that wasn't in the original series. Yes.

I only care about her. Get rid of the rest of them. Just give me Seema with her business troubles and banging the weird gardener. That's all I want. He is a weird gardener. Yeah. Yeah. Seema's business cat.

Uh-huh. I like her. So yeah, Gary Dahl won the contest in 2000. Would you like to hear his submission? Yes. Oh my God. This, you're going to be rolling your eyes at this one. Okay, so it's the worst?

The worst opening sentence for a novel. Okay. Let's hear it. The heather encrusted headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elie. slipping off Land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints. He is good.

He is good. That sucks so bad. That sucks so bad. It's really bad. But it's so overwritten. Yes. And like every word is trying so hard and holding so much weight that by the time you get to the into that sentence, you have no idea what the

fuck you just read. He did a great job. Expertly done terrible sentence. Yes. In 2006, the Dolls retired and moved to Jacksonville, Oregon. A year later, Gary took all of his advertising knowledge and wisdom that he had learned over the years

and he wrote a book, advertising for dummies. In 2015, Gary Doll passed away. He was 78 years old. Meanwhile, the pet rock lives on. In 2022, a toy company called Super Impulse bought the rights to the Pet Rock. Perfect name for the company that buys a Pet Rock.

Exactly. And they revived the brand. So, yeah, you can get your very own official Pet Rock on Amazon. Good of you to support a small local business norm. Yep. Little business called Amazon. I'm supporting Super Impulse. Okay, sure.

Amazon's just a marketplace where entrepreneurs can put their product. I've seen a lot of like Amazon propaganda lately, like commercials. Have you really? Yeah, I saw one where it was like, as an Amazon worker, you can make $22 an hour and take out your girlfriend on that, on that wonderful date. And it was like this blue collar worker guy showing up at his girlfriend's house and they like go out to eat. And he says, don't worry, they give me pee breaks. Life is really good. Should I tell my Amazon story?

He took the, he had the piss bottle in his pocket. Oh, shit. Yes. Should you? Everyone. Talk about it because... This is a crazy, crazy story. Holy shit.

I hope you're sitting down. I hope you're not eating cottage cheese. If you have your pet rock, start petting it. You're going to need some therapy after this story. Okay. Several months ago, my darling mother, Sherey, got me a pair of pants. off Amazon. My struggle with pants, I can never find pants that are long enough, so I always have to buy tall sizes. I can never just, like, I'm nothing like you host who can just go to a

store and like pick up a pair and go out of the door. These adorable ladies at five foot two. God, if you're five foot two, you're adorable. I'm sorry. Don't argue with me. So, story of my life can never find pants that are long enough. My mom, you know, did a bunch of research, found these pants on Amazon that are, you know, yoga pants that are definitely long enough, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. Great, great, great. What a wonderful gift. She gets me these pants.

They look really cute. Nice emerald color. Yeah. I took them home. Tried them on. And again, in my mind, the only thing I'm thinking about is, are these pants long enough? I'm not thinking about anything else. So it's just, okay, put them on.

I did notice that our dog kit was really, sniffing me a lot in these pants. Very curious. I didn't think a ton of that, you know, whatever. I looked in the mirror. They're long enough. They looked good. Okay. Norm comes in. He's like, oh, yeah, those are nice. I go to pull these pants off because, again, I'm just trying them on. I pulled them down. Holy mother of pearl.

These pants had been worn before, clearly returned. They'd seen some things, okay? There was a generous splotch in the crotch of these things. Someone sneezed their jeans. Someone dishonorably discharged into these yoga pants. And so, you know, I've got him down to my knees and I was like, oh my God. And you looked. Yeah.

You looked over and you said, my husband, by the way, known this man for like a million years, Norm goes, oh, did you do that? I'd been wearing them for like two minutes and I was wearing underwear. And my husband asks me, oh, did you do that in two minutes through underwear? Take me to a hospital if that's happening. Maybe you looked over at me and you were really turned down. Oh, that's enough. I'm about to bust. Here's the thing, folks.

I know we shouldn't be shopping on Amazon, but I, you know, I am kind of like, it's convenient. That, that really did it for me. I think if we want the world. Now you're boycotting. I think if we want the world to stop buying so much stuff on Amazon, we all just need to get some yoga pants that have been not so gently used. Yeah.

Yeah, that was nasty. It was horrifying. Your poor mom was devastated. My mom. She was traumatized. Apologized as if she'd done the deed herself. She did. She was absolutely horrified.

And I said, Mom, I'll never forgive you. Mm-hmm. I said, I'm sorry, Brendan Fraser was on TV. Oh, Kristen. Norm, that's a good story. It's a great story. I've been wanting you to share it on your Instagram at Kristen Pittskeruso. Oh, I was talking about your Pet Rock story.

Oh, well, I'm not done yet. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. So yeah, 2022, Super Impulse buys the rights to the Pet Rock and revives the brand. And in that same year, the Pet Rock had. kind of a small comeback of sorts, thanks to two moments in pop culture. So the first was that hit Oscar-winning film, everything everywhere all at once. Because in one scene, two of the characters transform into rocks with googly eyes, and they have a heartfelt conversation.

So the film studio, A24, released unofficially licensed pet rock as a tie-in to the movie. And those pet rocks had googly eyes. Wow. Oh. Okay. See, this is what's so creepy is like, I never would have thought that, but clearly that got into my head. Absolutely. Mandela effect. Then on Sesame Street, Elmo had a big feud with his pet rock named Rocco. And I guess the argument they had went viral online. People thought it was hilarious. Okay.

So pet rocks were once again in the news. The novelty was back for a little bit anyway, until people once again realized, oh, it's just. the rock. Well, no one forgets it's just a rock. It's just that it's a fad. We can't stay fascinated by pet rocks forever. I'm sorry, Perry. You'll always be special to me. Okay. Despite what your mother says. For about four months or so. Over the years, fads have come and gone. Dances like the macarena. Toys like the fidget spinner. Remember the fidget spinner? Oh, yeah. Yeah. The big fad right now is LaBoo Boo Boo-Dalls. What? La Boo Boo dolls.

They're cute little plush, collectible monsters. Have you seen these things? I'm so out of the loop. Let me Google. Hang on. They kind of look like gremlins. People are going absolutely apeshit for these things. Oh. God, they, this is, okay.

Let me tell you what little Kristen would have thought. Little Kristen would have had these in her room. Then the lights go off. You're supposed to fall asleep. And I'd be convinced this thing was going to come alive and attack me. Absolutely. Terrifying. Yep.

Don't feed it after midnight. I was thinking of fads. And I feel like my grandma and my mom were in on the fad for like old people of gnomes. Like collectible gnomes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

My grandma had like a Fourth of July gnome, a Christmas gnome, a Halloween gnome. And they all looked the same. They just had like different colored hats and stuff. Norm, let me explain something to you. There's a certain type of Midwestern woman. Mm-hmm. And I really do think it's really popular in the Midwest. And it's a lady who wants you to know that she knows what holiday it is.

And she's got a flag in her garden to prove it. There's got to be something in the garden to remind you, spring has sprung. Yeah, but these domes are plush dolls. And they sat inside. Yeah, they're just plushed gnomes. They sat on top of my grandma's, like, cats. Okay, well, I don't understand that at all. Yeah, I don't know. It's in right now. It's in right now.

Sorry to anyone who enjoys them. What did you say about my gnome collection? How could you? I am unsubscribing. That's fair. That's very fair. We get it. Kristen, in my eyes, nothing will top the greatest fad of the 20th century, the pet rock. There's a reason why when you look up the word fad on Wikipedia, an image of a pet rock. is the first thing you see. And that's the story of the pet rock.

Well done, Norm. That was really interesting. Oh, thank you very much. I'm glad you liked it. Yeah. Thank you to our subreddit for that wonderful idea. Yes. Shout out again to BZB has cats.

Thank you very much for that suggestion. That was a lot of fun to research. I bet, yeah. Okay, folks, it's about to get awkward. You're going to take your top off? That would not be awkward. That would be a party. Thank you very much.

Very sexy. No, I do have something to say. And just full disclosure, I wrote it in like a little script format here just because, well, it's important. I want to get it right. And so I've written it out. I don't know how strictly I'm going to stick to this. And also, I do have to apologize because we've been doing an old-timey podcast for like a year and a half now.

Mm-hmm. We do have a lot of people who have signed up on Patreon for an old-timey podcast. That's right. We call them fresh hose. We call them fresh hose. And you folks have maybe never listened to my old podcast. Let's go to court. So if that applies to you, then this whole talk is going to seem very weird and have zero

relevance to you. So I apologize to the fresh hose. Let's just say this is a very special episode of an old-timey podcast. It's like those 90s sitcoms when like the kid tried a cigarette or cheated on the test. Caffeine pills. Caffeine pills, classic, saved by the bill. So what do you got, Kristen? Okay.

I have something to say. Oh, this is so awkward. I have something to say to all the men listening this episode. No, I have something to say. And full disclosure, I really debated saying anything here on this bonus episode. just because we've worked so hard to make an old-timey podcast its own thing, and it is its own thing. But we also know that a lot of you who support us here on Patreon started as Let's Go to Court fans. And you did us the massive favor of sticking with us as we created this new thing and got it off the ground.

And I did want to address it here in this bonus episode because I do think some of you might be interested in this. So basically, ever since let's go to court ended, I've continued to get questions about my relationship with my former co-host, namely, are you two still friends? And I've really struggled with whether to answer that question at all, if so, what to say. So basically, until last week, my tactic has been, when I see that question online, I just la la la la la, la. pretend I didn't see it, which is weird and I feel like doesn't feel authentic to who I am and also just feels weird to listeners of this show. Sure. So I did go ahead and finally answer that question.

I answered it on one of the old let's go to court subreddits because someone had asked the question again. And so I just thought, you know what? Let's put this to bed. Yeah, a year and a half later, it's time to put this to bed. I do also want to say, I'm going to read you my. response now, but I do want to say, I totally understand why people would ask that question. It was uncomfortable to get that question, and I appreciate so much, so many of you who were probably

curious as hell. I know I would have been, but didn't ask me that on this platform where I come every day for work, you know? I feel like a lot of the folks on Patreon and specifically in our discord, it felt like, this is where it gets weird, because we all talk about parasycial relationships, but they go both ways. And I know a lot of people maybe haven't thought that perhaps that relationship ended badly, but I also think that a few of you did since that and kind of gave me the space. And, you know, if you had questions or theories about it, you took it to other platforms where I didn't have to be for work every day. And I really appreciate that. Yeah, people are very respectful. Even like during trivia, like in the live chats. Yeah. And I appreciate

that so much. It's funny you mentioned trivia, the live chats. I think I'll come back to that in a bit. But I feel like I've teased something and I should actually get to it. So hang on here. So like I said, I did address this question on Reddit and I linked to it in the Discord, but I understand that not everybody does Discord here, so I just wanted to share it here in case it's of interest to you. So here's what I wrote. I said, hi everyone, I'll go ahead and address this. We are not still friends. For the record, I'm still so proud of the show, proud of what it meant and means to so many of you, and proud to have been half of it. The sad truth, though, is that it did end badly. For what it's worth, I don't blame anybody for being curious about what went down. I'm nosy I would want to know to.

I'm also not one for sugar-coating, so instead I'll go for a little cheese. The end of LGTC was tough, but it taught me a lot of lessons that I don't think I would have learned otherwise. In that sense, I'm grateful for that experience, grateful to my former friend, and grateful to all of you. Thank you to everyone who loves and loved LGTC, and thank you to everyone who is loving an old-timey podcast. The past year and a half has been a weird, wild journey, and I'm glad to be. where I'm at right now. Thanks, Noor. Yeah, it's a good statement.

Thanks. The past year and a half has been tough for you. It has. To hold that back. So I think it felt good to finally answer that question. I was nervous as hell. You were with me when I posted that comment and like the second I did, I just cried. But it does feel really good.

to have said it, to just have it out there. Because it's funny, it's like, ugh, it's not like it's a secret to me. But I think I was really worried about how people would react. And I worried that, you know, that show meant a lot to so many people. It meant a lot to me. And I thought, what if I tell people this and I'm, like, ruining this thing that people really enjoyed? Well, because like the friendship was like a core part of that show. Sure, sure.

Yeah. But I have been really touched by the response. Like people have been very understanding and very kind about it, which, you know, it's one of those things. I kind of wish I'd done it sooner now because it just, I'd made it more scary in my head than it needed to be. And that happens. Yeah. You know, anxiety does that to you. Sure.

Yeah. I do want to clarify, I think if I could go back in time when I made that comment, I want to clarify that the friendship did not end because someone quit a job. I would never end a friendship because someone quit a job, even if the job was important to me. So I do want to clear that up. You know, things had been tough for a while and they got tougher at the very end. But I got to say, it was really hard.

And if you had come to me at that time and said, hey, with some time and perspective, you're actually going to truly believe that everything turned out for the best. I would have punched you in the butt for saying that. But, I mean, I can't imagine saying that too. I would have run out of the house. Oh, yeah. It's all for the best. And then scratch. Sorry, everything will be fine.

And then I just run out of it. I mean, it is true, though. It's true that sitting here today, I feel so lucky for how things turned out. And man, it's been a wild ride, but I really am grateful for it. I feel like you and I are doing what we were meant to be doing. Telling people about the pet rock. This was our calling and me telling gross stories about pants. I do want to also say, you know, talking about having gratitude for my former co-host,

I'm not just saying that to be nice. I really mean that. I think back to my life when I started Let's Go to Court. You know, I came up with that idea. I asked her to join me, and she did. And now I'm here. And I can't be anything but grateful for that. It's funny.

It's one of those things. I would like to think that maybe I would have found podcasting success some other way, somehow, but I have no way of knowing that. Yeah. And so, so yeah, you do have to be grateful. It was a good-ass show. Thank you. Let's go to Corv was a good-ass show.

I think that's the – Still is. I think that's the other thing is that I'm proud of that show. Yeah. You should be. I am. That's what we like to hear. But things have been, have been awkward.

And I think that's why, you know, I realize that I risk upsetting some folks by sharing this in this episode. And I'm sorry for that. You would think that years of therapy would have taught me that I'm not responsible for other people's feelings. But if this bums you out, I really am sorry. Have you learned nothing, you know, basically? For example, a couple weeks ago, we had trivia, our monthly trivia, it's always so fun. and at the very end we were trying to figure out, oh, what topic do we want to do next month? And someone commented, you should do let's go to court and old-timey podcast trivia.

And you and I ignored it. And then, of course, you know, the chat was kind of going fast. So I'm sure they just thought, oh, well, they didn't see my suggestion. So they suggested it again and we ignored it again. And I was just thinking, this isn't me to keep quiet about this. Like, I don't need to say anything bad about anybody. I don't need any of that. But, you know, I think I just want the community to know.

Yeah. Because, again, if I had been a let's go to court listener, I would have a tinfoil hat on. I'd be posting all my theories everywhere. I would want to know. I would want to know. Yeah. Well, I think for a long time, it felt like a cloud hanging over your head. Yes.

Or like a dark specter following you. It really did. Yeah. And like, that shit sucks. No kidding. Yeah. I remember, you know, when we first started an old-timey podcast, like, I feel like that's when the questions were kind of at their peak. And it was also when things were hardest for me.

And I remember I kept saying, like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do because I said, if we ever get this podcast as successfully. as I hope it will be, and we're able to do live shows, it's going to be very natural for someone to come up to me at like a meet and greet or something and be like, hey, how so-and-so? Or just ask a basic question. And what's my game plan then? Am I going to mean mug somebody?

Because they couldn't read my mind. You know, like, it's so it just, and then you were very rude because you were like, Kristen, it's going to take a very long time for us to get to that point. So I had to keep it real. You did have to keep it real. But, yeah, it feels like a relief to have talked about this. And I don't know. It's kind of wild to hear from so many other people who have been through something similar.

I think going through it myself, it felt like I was the only one who this had ever happened to. Turns out, no. No. No, I read a few comments where people said that a friendship ending is worse than a divorce. It's harder. Honestly, yeah. So I've never been divorced and I hope to never be divorced. But of course, if Norm runs out in his Arizona jeans that are so tight, you know, it's going to happen.

Yeah, I think that's one of the funny things is, ugh, a friendship ending, even when it needs to end, even when it ending is for the best, somehow it still sucks. Riddle me that, big boy. don't call me big boy sorry yeah it's tough so now that that is out of the way it occurred to me when I was kind of writing this out that I think that I can finally

say thank you to people in a more real way because that was so tough and when we bought the Patreon I genuinely did not know how many people would stick around. And for the record, like, I don't blame anybody who was like, well, I signed up for this show and now the show's over. And history is not my thing. This new thing's not my thing. You know. Yeah. But I am so grateful to anyone who either just

gave us a chance, but especially to those of you who stuck with us. Yeah, we're both grateful. But you helped me more than you know. And again, I totally understand why people had questions and theories and all that, but it still amazes me how few of those came to me in our Discord or through Patreon. It just felt like, and again, this could be in my head. It could be some weird parisocial thing that's not actually happening. But it felt like people knew I needed some space to get through a tough time and create something new.

And I'm just really grateful for that. Yeah. Also. Oh. Also. What else he got for us? Okay. So like I said, I shared that response, got a lot of positive feedback on it, and I appreciate it.

I did see some jokes from you assholes who were like, oh, this is proof that you should never start a true crime podcast with your friend, you know, blah, blah, blah. I know people are kidding, but also kind of not because, you know, there have been a few podcast blowups over the years. Yeah. This is not an original idea or story. Which is not an original problem. But I do want to say something about that because I know that starting some new creative endeavor, it's so easy. easy to get discouraged and the easiest thing is to just not do it at all. And the idea of someone looking at this experience and thinking, I just shouldn't do it. Oh, I hate that. Because of course,

there are big risks when you start a business with a friend, particularly when that's a public facing business. Yeah. And when it gets bad, it's easy to only focus on the risks and the negativity, but there are rewards to it too. And I got both. The highs were high, the lows were low, and it was worth it. I gained more than I lost. And I think that I learned a lot of lessons through that time in my life. Really hard lessons, which it's funny, I kind of think life tries to teach you things

in subtle ways at first, and then if you don't get it, you get the really hard lesson. And hopefully the sunny side of that is that hard lessons really stick with you. And they are the hardest. They suck the most, but man, you don't forget them.

Yeah, yeah. And so I just want to say that. it's way more good than bad. I'm really grateful to all of you, and I'm grateful to you, Norm. Oh, thank you. But yeah, I'm really happy with how things shook out,

and I hope this doesn't bum anybody out too bad. But I do feel good, says the woman with tears in her eyes. Kristen, you got to speak your truth. Yeah. We understand. Yeah. And we are proud of you.

Oh, you know what? everybody, I'm looking over this little cute script I wrote for that talk, which I didn't really look at much at all. But I did end it with, thank you all for listening and thank you for continuing to listen. That was pretty good. All right. Stick to the script, Kristen. This is all completely new information to Norm.

He had no idea any of this was happening behind the scenes. Yeah, I'm a little behind. Yeah. Yeah, Kristen came and he's like, hey, you want to start a podcast? I guess I was like, I guess. I mean, what happened to your old one? Well, Kristen, are you ready for this month's bonus questione? Yes, I am.

Okay. As you know, our topic today was The Pet Rock. Huh? A fad from the 70s. Yes. So I asked the history host, in honor of this month's topic, we are asking, what is a fad or trend that you really got into? The macarina, beanie babies, tell us everything.

So, without further ado, let's read some of your answers. Kristen, would you like to start? Oh, my gosh. Okay, you told me before we started recording that you were going to ask this question in the Discord. And I immediately was like, oh gosh, I've got to think of something for me because, like, I feel like we always want to share ours too. And the thing I thought of, it's the second thing that came up in here.

and I didn't really think that this would come up. Antique gardening tool says, oh no, the 2008 hair poof. The hair poof. I thought of that too. Yeah. Now, what is the hair poof? You know, it's that thing where you take the clip and you have that poof in the front. Don't you remember?

Oh, it looks like a little umbrella. Umbrella. Like the hair poof. It doesn't touch your forehead. It kind of. Right, right. Well, no, it kind of swoops up. and then you'd take two bobby pins and kind of...

Oh! Yeah. Yes. I know what you're talking about. Not quite Snooky, but, you know... Hang, I'm going to look up here. Tone down, Snooky. Hair poof, 2008.

Oh, God. Yep. Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan. All the greats did it. The Olson twins. Uh-huh. Lauren Conrad. Yeah, Snooki had a very pronounced hairproof.

Sure. Okay, yeah, that is definitely a... fad that is no longer around. Renee has an interesting answer. Okay. She says, that old decrepit podcast, let's go to court. Too soon! Are you calling, let's go to court a fad?

Hey, six years is a good run for a podcast. It is. It is. Oh, hell yeah. Chels Chels says gouchos. I had so many pairs of gouchos. What are gouchos? Oh my God, Norm.

Especially the capri-length ones. I cannot look back at old pictures without cringing. Okay. What the hell is a gaucho? The pants? Yeah. Oh, with the big openings. Yeah, they had very wide legs.

They were mysteriously tighten the crotch. I mean, so you would have all the room in the world for your thighs. And also, like, it was usually an elastic waistband, so they didn't hug you too snug there either. Yeah. But, man, you would often see some camel toe with those gauchos. God, it looked like an old-timey marksman. Those pants. Hiding in the brush waiting to take the shot.

Mexican pig butter says feathers in the hair. Oh, that was a thing, huh? Okay. Come Kardashian responded. I have feathers in my hair to see Kesha. She's like my idol. What is that from? Okay.

And then Come said in parentheses, this is a reference. I did not need to be told. But you who just made a teen mom reference earlier in this show. Gary, Janelle said that to her attorney. Her attorney. Her attorney. Yeah, remember, like, it was like, I think she was going to have to, like, serve time or something. Like, she was facing some serious consequences.

But she said, I can't go to court because I'm meeting Kesha. It was maybe more important than just a court date. I can't remember what it was exactly. You are taking your child away from you. I will tell you something. The attorney was not impressed. by her need to go to a cash a concert. And she had feathers in her hair for the cash a concert.

Janelle was the one who was dating Kifa. Yeah. And he's smoking the Rifa. Yeah. Of course. Gotcha. I remember her because I think they lived in North Carolina. And I was like, oh, that's where I'm from.

I felt a connection. Airtight crisis fart says, does dieting culture count? To be fair, that was mostly my mom's doing. having Melba toast and snackwell's cookies on the regular. Oh. Oh, the little devil's food cakes. Those things. Yeah, dieting fads and trends.

Yeah. I mean, that's a thing, sure. That's some toxic stuff, but I did love those cookies. I remember I would say, I'm running to the grocery store. Do you want me to get you anything? And sometimes you would have me get those little devil snackwell cookies. It was one of those things. We had them growing up.

I didn't know they were like a toxic diet thing. I just knew they were cookies. You just liked them. And so, yeah, I did enjoy them. Okay, someone finally said the thing that I have been thinking. What? So shut up about it, said, Tomagachi. Oh.

I loved those for like a minute. Yeah. I had like a bootleg knockoff version. There were so many. Yeah. Because like you couldn't buy Tomogatchis. They were sold out all the time. I found one in like an antique mall.

Someone was selling like knockoff versions. It was like a T-Rex. that baby T-Rex game or something. And yeah, it was great. Yeah, love the Tomoguchis. Even my bootleg Tomoguchi. Some people are saying Pokemon? I don't know if I would consider Pokemon a fad.

That's because you're such a nerd. Well, hang on. Let me get the rim shut in it first. Because I know you're joking. Oh, yeah. I guess it was a fad when it first came out. But, like, Pokemon's still very popular today. I don't know.

I consider a fad only lasting for so long. Okay. You want to um actually these people? I feel like I got to um actually some of these answers. How do you feel about the people who are mentioning Beanie babies? Beanie babies was a fan. Okay, we can agree to that. All right. That was a fan. All right.

But you people bringing up Pokemon. Pokemon, I don't. You have been warned. Yeah, I don't know, folks. Another person said Animal Crossing. Wow. Everybody, you didn't know that Norm was going to ask you a question and then critique the shit out of your answers. Cheeky Caps says, I rocked a bumpet for far too long.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Little volume in the hair, for sure. Now, when we did a watch party last year and we watched the bumpet infomercial, that was wild. You were pretty impressed, weren't you? Pretty turned on. I want you to wear the bumpet and only the bumpets. Oh, true crime and dog says I am deep in the throes of Labuboos right now.

Oh, my gosh. I don't want to admit how many deep I am. I told you it's huge right now. Okay. She also mentions true crime. Sure. Collect them all. Gourmet cat food says,

Fallout boy, 100,000 percent. Fully black hair, insane eyeliner, weird black cargo pants, learning every song and trying to start my own band with my friends. Hell yeah. My mom would only allow me to wear a certain amount of black clothes, so I felt so caged.

She didn't understand you. Stop holding me back, Mom. Oh, frozen like a grape. Lisa Frank. In the late 80s and early 90s, if you didn't have Lisa Frank, what were you even doing at school? All my folders, notebooks, and pencils had to be Lisa Frank. Walking into whatever store for school supplies was exciting because Lisa Frank. Lisa Frank was cool as shit.

It was the best. Yeah. I had all of it in second grade. I loved Lisa Frank, but I was too embarrassed to get it because I thought all my friends would make fun of me. Yeah, the gender norms were really confining. Yeah, so I got a, you know, they kind of had like a boys version. They did? Well, the boys' version of Lisa Frank was basically an intense, angry animal playing a sport.

Oh, yeah, okay, yeah. So mine was like a panther swiping at a soccer ball. Sure. You often see that in the wild And it's just terrifying It is But yeah, it was more like the color scheme also Yeah, mine was like

It was like tactical gear It was black and I had the fold out With the Velcro Well, you were a really tough little boy Weren't you, no I peed my pants Today I forgot Says plastic bubble furniture

I had What? I had a blow up couch In my room Plastic bubble furniture. Yes, yes. It was very cool, Norm. I'm going to Google this now. Googling everything today.

When it would kind of deflate a little and you sat in it, you really went wild. Oh, yeah. These things always deflated. Of course, yeah. They, believe it or not, were not very high quality pieces of furniture. Damn. Imagine walking into a living room and it's all plastic bubble furniture. Yes, we just redecorated the house.

Yes. Please take off your studded belt. My God. Tell it to the Fallout boy. Yeah. Person in the Discord. Don't wear your studded belt. Caged in even further.

Here's another person. All Panic, no disco, says, I fell hard into the alternative emo scene in the 2000s. Me too. I was pretty into it. You didn't like dress for it, though, right? Because I feel like that's part of it. No.

So, like, some people went all out with the eyeliner. and the crazy hair and stuff. Like, I was just into it in like I wore a sweat wristband. That was like a thing. Sure. I had the band T-shirt. Yeah. With jeans.

Yeah. Yeah. I was like a minimalist emo kid. You flirted with emo. I did. A lot of Thursday. That was the band I rocked to the most. Van DeLay Industry says,

I had a million silly bands and also those rubber live-strived. Bracelands as many as my arm could fit. Oh, yeah. The Livestrong bracelet. Yeah. Did you have one? I didn't. I felt like everyone had one and I didn't.

And then, you know, he was, you know, caught. And then I was like, yeah. Mm-hmm. I think I got one from like a pair of shoes I bought. I think it like came with it. It did seem like if you were breathing, you somehow had one. Yeah. What about the WWJD?

bracelets. What would Jesus do bracelets? Do you remember those? I do remember those. I had one of those. You're not religious. I know, which is very strange. Did you wear it? Yeah. Okay. Because it was like a fad. I mean, everyone was wearing them. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Small town, North Carolina. Sure. Sure. Yep. Absolutely. Everyone wore those things. You were always asking what would Mr. Jesus do. Actually, mine stood for what would J.C. Penny do. Okay. Right. Buy up a whole bunch of land in Florida.

That's right. That's right. Uh-oh. Norm, this question has created some tension. Uh-oh. Let's hear about it. The bat says, I asked my brother to answer for me, and he said tattoos. So now we're having a heated discussion and definitely not an argument about that being a stupid answer.

Tattoos. It depends on what the tattoo is. Depends on the tattoo is. It depends on the tattoo, for sure. I feel, you know, tattoos have always been a thing. They are way more normal now than they were 50 years ago, I'd say. I mean, yeah, but the tattoo trends. Right.

So like a tribal tattoo was a fad for a while or like the barbed wire tattoo. Oh my gosh. I feel like I've told this story on the podcast before, but the barbed wire tattoo. Okay, if you're a certain age, you know that for a while there, a lot of people got barbed wire around their arms. It was just a thing people did. Yeah. Okay. It was a trend.

When my grandfather was in an assisted living facility, my grandmother became very alarmed by the number of people working there who had tattoos because, you know, people with tattoos. and she started talking to one of her friends, I think Vivian or somebody, and they started discussing these scandalous tattoos. And Vivian, who I'm sure had some insider knowledge, let my grandmother know that if someone has a barbed wire tattoo, it's because they have done serious prison time. Vivian knew all the hot takes. And let me tell you, I tried to explain to my grandmother that it had been a trend for a while.

Right. That was not the answer she was looking for. No. No. Absolutely not. Your grandmother was pretty horrified when she saw that I had a tattoo. Oh, yes. Yeah, and this was before I had my arm sleeve.

I just had like, I have one on this arm too. Right. As I was getting this sleeve, whenever we went to your grandmas, I always wore a long sleeve shirt because I just, I wanted to protect her. I think you were trying to protect yourself. That judgment was coming in hot. Two things can be true. Uh-huh, that's right. Few answers of Furby in here.

Yeah, Furby was a big fad for a while. They were creepy. Yeah, have you ever seen that video of the Furby melting? No. It's talking and it starts melting and then the voice is like, like a demon. I mean, Furbys were creepy enough on their own. You didn't have to melt it.

That's pretty wild. I never had a Furby. Neither did I. Tiffonized has an interesting answer. Not sure if this counts, but I always go see the WienerMobile when it's in town. I have the app that shows where they all are and sends me notifications when one is coming around. Everyone associates me with it.

I also have a WienerMobile toy that looks like a Beanie Baby. Tiffinize, we love that for you. What, you're not going to critique Tiffinized and say that's not a fad? It's her own personal fad. She's into WienerMobiles right now. I do enjoy seeing the WienerMobile drive by. I see, I think, yeah, I think we're seeing some bias. It's like if Norm's super into it, then it's okay.

Now, I was not aware there is an app tracking the WienerMobiles. I'm going to have to look into this. Right. Well, stockings become a real problem. We have to ban this app. The WienerMobile drivers are in danger. Tiffany's is terrorizing these WienerMobiles. Kristen, you want to read one more?

Sure. We have so many answers. This was a great question, if I do say, so myself. It truly is. Oh, head pig greaser says hard rock cafe t-shirts. We've talked about this on an old-timey podcast. Yes. In the 90s, a freaking hard rock cafe t-shirt was very cool. Yeah. Did you even go anywhere if you didn't come back with the hard rock cafe t-shirt? And I've told the story when we were in London, one day on our schedule was we're going to the hard rock cafe. My mom insisted, we have to go to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Yeah, for a certain generation, it was very important to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and have an expensive and not that great meal. Yeah. Don't question it. Oh, okay. I found the one to end them all. Oh, yeah. What's that? Pop to the E says, toe socks.

It might actually have been an anti-fad now that I think about it. I literally could not have looked less cool. Do you remember toe socks? Toes socks? I hated those. I'm going to look this up now. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's weird.

Oh. Yeah, they were a thing. So each toe had its own little... Compartment, yes. We hate it. I don't like that one bit. You can still buy them, apparently. I had a friend in high school who wore them, and she always wore, like, rainbow-striped.

Yeah, I am seeing the rainbow-striped ones here. Yeah, there's nothing subtle about a toe sock. Oh, that creeps me out. I'm going to close this test. I don't like that. I have a thing about socks. You know this. Well, you don't like to be touched by someone who's wearing socks.

Right. And now I guess I'm just imagining a few more toe socks and touched me. I would be, whew. What would you rather experience? Touched by a toe sock. Touched by an angel. Touched by a toe sock. Or watch a Furby melt.

Oh, I would rather watch a Furby melt. Oh, okay. That wasn't even a hard question for you. That doesn't bother me watching a Furby melt. Wow, psycho. Kristen, should we wrap up this incredible bonus episode of an old-timey podcast? Let's do it. You know what they say about history, hoes?

We always cite our sources. That's right. For this episode, I got my information from a whole mess of sources. Check the show notes. Oh, wow. That's all for this episode. Thank you for listening to an old-timey podcast. Please give us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcast.

and while you're at it, subscribe. Support us on Patreon. Oh, wait a second. If you're listening to this right now, you already aren't doing that, so thank you very much. Well, maybe you could join the Reddit community, R-slash Old-Timey Podcast.

Follow us on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram at Old-Timey Podcast. You can also follow us individually on Instagram. She is the beautiful. Kristen Pitts-Karuso. Hello. I go by Gaming Historian, and until next time, Tudeloo, Tata,

and Cheerie. Yeah.