We were talking to mom this morning about pet month on AT and she reminded us of her favorite pet of ours growing up. Since she was the one who ended up walking the dogs, cleaning the hamster cage and changing the water in the fish bowl, her recollection of our Pet Rock was that it was nice and quiet, and didn't shed or scratch the sofa...

The Pet Rock was a fad for a little over 6 months in the mid 1970's. They came packaged inside a cardboard box designed like a pet carrier (complete with air holes!). The training manual contained instructions on how to properly care for your pet rock, including how to house-train a pet rock by placing it on a piece of newspaper and other commands including sit, stay, roll over, and play dead.

Like many of our friends the year they were popular, we got our pet rock for a Christmas present. As responsible young pet rock owners, we named ours ("Rocky") and took good moderately care of it. A bunch of friends had them as well and we would sort of have rock band parties for them and make hats for them. Are we dating ourselves here — did anyone else have a pet rock?

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