Peculiar pets from the past: PetRocks, Chia Pets and Tamagotchis

By Bob Welland, Kids Section editor

Pets come with responsibilities like feeding, grooming, training and cleaning up you-know-what. In 1975, this gave Gary Dahl the idea to make the ultimate low-maintenance companion, the Pet Rock. He sold smooth beach rocks in cardboard boxes (with air holes.) It included a 33-page humorous book with care and training instructions. The book explained how easy it was to train the pet rock to obey commands like “sit” and “stay”. Surprisingly, it taught more complex tricks, such as “roll over,” which was best done “on the side of a hill.” Pet Rocks were a short-lived fad, selling 1.5 million in the first year.

Pet Rock Book, credit Rock Bottom Productions

Another peculiar pet from the past was the Chia Pet. You bought a terracotta (baked clay) figure in the shape of a ram, puppy or other animal with grooves on the back. You would soak chia seeds in water until they became a sticky paste that you spread in the grooves. By keeping the hollow animal figure full of water for two weeks, the chia would sprout and grow into green “fur.” They were popular in the 1980s, thanks to a catchy TV advertising jingle of “Ch-ch-ch-chia!” But nowadays, chia seeds are used more for adding fiber and protein to puddings and smoothies.

Hedgehog Chia Pet, credit Chia Pet

Chia Pets were more work for their owners than Pet Rocks, because the chia plants were actually alive. Then in the 1990s, the first digital pets came from Japan that simulated the care and feeding chores of a living pet.

They were called Tamagotchi (meaning egg-shaped watch in Japanese). When you activated the toy, the screen showed a little alien creature hatching from an egg. You pressed buttons to feed, clean and play with the virtual creature and over days, it would grow from baby to teenager to adult. But if you didn’t attend to it, it would grow sick and possibly die. Kids would bring them everywhere, even school which caused distractions and angry teachers.

Hmm, that sounds familiar. Maybe our smartphones are today’s peculiar pets.