North Dakota
The Pet Rock was hatched 50 years ago by a North Dakota native
It’s December 1975. You’re steering your boat-sized Buick down 13th Avenue toward West Acres (WAAAAAAY out west). You’re singing along to the No. 1 song, “Fly, Robin, Fly,” when a familiar Christmas worry creeps in.
I don’t know for a fact that my mother actually lived out this exact scene 50 years ago. But it sounds like her. (Except she’d be listening to the Carpenters or Neil Diamond — not Silver Convention.)
But I hope Joan Briggs didn’t think too long and hard about what we kids wanted that Christmas of ’75. We, like millions of Americans, had caught the fever of that year’s hottest gifts: the Pet Rock and mood rings. Both are celebrating their 50th birthdays this year.
As we mark the golden anniversary, let’s look back at why those gifts were such hits.
First up: the Pet Rock. And did you know a North Dakota native invented it?
We’ve probably all had that fleeting thought (particularly as we’re paying bills): If only I had that million-dollar idea!
Think Spanx. Snuggies. Post-it notes.
A North Dakota native named Gary Ross Dahl had one of those lightning-bolt ideas — the viral (before they called it that) Pet Rock. It would make him a millionaire in less than a year.
Gary Ross Dahl was born in Bottineau, North Dakota, on Dec. 18, 1936, to Richard “Arnold” Dahl and Lavone Ferm Dahl. Arnold was a projectionist at the Pasture Theatre. In the early 1940s, the family moved to Spokane, Washington, where Arnold got a job with a lumber company and Lavone worked as a waitress and welcomed a second child, a daughter.
According to Curt Eriksmoen, in his “Did You Know That” column from April 26, 2015, after his parents’ divorce, Gary said he became “an obnoxious brat, somewhere between a juvenile delinquent and just a bad kid.”
He joined the Marine Corps in 1954 to straighten himself out.
He obviously did — finding his way to Washington State University and eventually California, where he worked as an artist designing signs in San Diego. That later led to a job as an account executive for an advertising agency.
When he wasn’t writing ad copy, he and his wife, Marguerite, took care of enough animals to fill a petting zoo: two German shepherds, two cats, two goats, two chickens and a guinea pig.
This is where fate steps in.
Dahl was at a bar with some buddies one night, commiserating about high-maintenance pets. He quipped that the perfect pet would be … a rock. No feeding. No grooming. No mess. No allergies. Just pure, geological companionship.
Sure, it was a joke. But the light bulb went on — and Dahl was on his way to making millions.
He got to work packaging his new “pet,” placing a smooth stone atop a bed of packing material inside a cardboard box complete with air holes — for “breathing.” Each rock came with “The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock,” a wonderfully deadpan manual that taught owners how to command their rock to “sit,” “stay” and “roll over” (best taught on a hillside).
The Pet Rock debuted in August 1975 and immediately became a cultural phenomenon. A few months later, Dahl’s wife was telling reporters they’d already sold 60,000 of them. By Christmas, more than a million had been “adopted” nationwide.
Ten years before they brought us the hugely popular Santa Bear, the folks at Dayton’s Department Store were all in on the Pet Rock. Gift buyer Ed Hovis called it the “smash stocking stuffer for 1975.”
Here in Fargo-Moorhead, shoppers flooded into the West Acres Dayton’s, picking up their new “pets” for just $4.
Absolute seasonal silliness, to be sure. Still, in 1975, the Pet Rock seemed to delight people as much as dog and cat videos do today.
In The Forum, one columnist wrote that while the shopping crowd looked grim and foot-weary, “every person at the Pet Rock display was smiling from ear to ear.”
But not everyone was amused.
The Duluth News Tribune’s letters section erupted into figurative rock-throwing, with one writer peppering his letter with gems like: “The real rocks are in the purchaser’s skull,” “I bet in this country, with the right promotion and a box and ribbon, human waste could be sold,” and “People who put this item out, those who buy it and those who advertise it are all sick.”
Sounds like someone needed a pet rock to snuggle.
Another letter fought back that it was just for fun and “a form of social commentary, something of which we have far too little.”
By early 1976, the craze faded, despite Ross offering shoppers red, white and blue bicentennial rocks.
He tried to make lightning strike twice that Christmas of ’76 by offering the equally silly “Original Sand Breeding Kit,” which allowed “buyers to grow their own desert wasteland.”
It didn’t hit. But it didn’t really matter. That single year — 1975 — made Dahl a millionaire.
He remained active in the world of advertising, later co-authoring “Advertising for Dummies,” which surely would include a chapter on how the power of one odd idea, packaged with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek charm, can set you up for life.
Dahl always insisted, “I packaged a sense of humor for a very bored public.” And it’s hard to argue that a sense of humor might be one of the best Christmas gifts of all.
Gary Ross Dahl died March 23, 2015, at age 78. In one final, fitting twist, his obituary appeared in many newspapers on April 1 — April Fools’ Day.
And yes, if you’re wondering, the Pet Rock never really went extinct. You can still buy one on Amazon today for $29.95 — proving that inflation affects even imaginary pets.
For a man who once sold the world a rock in a box, maybe Dahl’s greatest legacy is simpler than all the numbers: for one strange, silly season in 1975, he reminded us that laughter itself is sometimes the perfect Christmas gift.
Next week: The other Christmas fad of 1975 — the mood ring — and does the one I wore in sixth grade still work?
What did Christmas shopping look like more than 50 years ago?
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On this day in 1943, two North Dakota army officers, Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz and First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson, were killed in separate medium bomber training crashes in Florida and Georgia.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Army Plane Crashes Kill Two N. D. Men
Two North Dakota officers in the army air forces were killed Sunday in bomber crashes during training flights, Associated Press dispatches revealed Monday.
Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz of Harvey (Wells county) was killed with 10 others from the Avon Park, Fla., army bomber base when two medium bombers collided during a routine formation flight. Both planes crashed and there were no survivors.
First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson of Warwick (Benson county) was one of six killed when a medium bomber from MacDill field, Tampa, Fla., crashed near Savannah, Ga. Lieutenant Anderson was co-pilot of the plane.
None of the other victims of either accident was from the Dakotas or Minnesota.
Lieutenant Kuntz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kuntz of Harvey, was graduated from the army air force navigation school at Hondo, Texas, as a second lieutenant last October, and received his wings as a navigator.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – Two North Dakotans are semifinalists for the Bismarck State College president’s job as North Dakota State University narrows its presidential candidate list.
Valley City State University also is searching for a new president, with an application period closing this month..
Kevin Black, chair of the State Board of Higher Education and co-chair of the North Dakota State University Presidential Search Committee, said the committee reviewed over 60 applications. The committee is planning off-site interviews with candidates March 9-10 and campus visits with semifinal candidates March 23-27.
“We’re really excited about taking the next step and there’s some very quality people in there,” Black said.
FARGO — One season ago, a Cinderella run for the West Fargo United girls hockey team came up just short in the state championship game.
United, the No. 7 seed, fell to Legacy/Bismarck in the 2025 final.
This time around, the team had momentum swaying in its favor, riding nine consecutive wins into Saturday’s title game against Grand Forks at Scheels Arena.
Led by goals from a pair of senior captains, United capped its redemption season with a 10th straight victory, fending off the KnightRiders 2-1 to claim the North Dakota girls hockey state tournament championship.
“It just means everything,” said United’s Payton Stocker, whose goal at the 12:31 mark of the second period gave her team a 1-0 lead. “We’ve worked so hard and throughout the season, it’s just been such a battle. Winning and coming out on top is just such a great feeling.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Stocker was followed up in scoring by United captain Rachel Spanier. The defenseman fired a slap shot from the left point that beat Grand Forks goaltender Kylie Schmaltz to make it 2-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Reagan Wilson locked things down in net for United, finishing with 23 saves and picking up an all-tournament team nod.
“This is my first year of high school hockey,” the sophomore goaltender said. “I can’t believe coming in here and winning a state title with all of these girls. I just love them so much.”
While it was the senior duo of Stocker and Spanier finding the net for United on Saturday, contributions were seen across the board.
Sophomore Emma Hassler also put forth an all-tournament campaign with five goals and an assist for six points over the three-day stretch.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Freshman Kaylee Augdahl finished the tournament with four points — including
a double-overtime winner
over Fargo North/South in Friday’s semifinals — and junior Liana Williamson added three assists.
“It wasn’t just us (seniors),” said Stocker, who joined Hassler and Wilson on the all-tourney team. “It was everyone collectively. Being seniors, it feels a lot better. It was a great feeling.”
United, the No. 5 seed this year, capped its season with a record of 17-9-0.
“These girls are awesome,” first-year United head coach Kennedy Blair said. “They’ve worked super, super hard since last April. Wake up early in the mornings, go into off-ice training, on-ice training and all that.
“This group of girls is really special. They’re a really close-knit group, and they trusted our coaching staff coming in as a first-year group.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Blair knows a thing or two about winning championships. She was a North Dakota state champion goaltender with the former Bismarck Blizzard co-op and also won an NCAA Division I national title with the Wisconsin women’s program in 2021.
Yet, she never imagined ending her first year as a high school varsity coach with a state championship.
“No, I didn’t,” said Blair, who also won North Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors. “But I had belief in these girls that we could get to the state championship again.”
It’s the United co-op’s first-ever state title — which consists of West Fargo, West Fargo Sheyenne and West Fargo Horace high schools.
Prior to Saturday, the last time a West Fargo girls program won the state title was in 2014 when it was still a standalone program competing as the Packers.
“It’s amazing considering United hockey has never won a championship game,” Wilson said.
Grand Forks, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, ended its campaign with a 21-5-0 record.
Ella Yahna’s fourth goal of the tournament — which came on a 2-on-1 rush with the assist from teammate Reese Meagher, put the KnightRiders within one shot with 8:17 remaining in the third.
Grand Forks, however, was unable to find the equalizer as its bid for a first state championship came up just short.
“I thought we came out in the first and we had a tough time,” Grand Forks head coach Kelly Kilgore said. “I felt we battled some nerves. I really liked our second period … We carried the play and tilted the ice a little bit back in our favor. The shots kind of started to really turn in our favor.”
Stocker said she wouldn’t have wanted to win a state title as a senior with any other group of teammates.
“(They mean) everything,” Stocker said. “We’re so tight and they’re all my friends. Leaving them is going to be hard. But they mean everything to me. We’re all so close and I love them a lot.”
FIRST PERIOD: No scoring.
SECOND PERIOD: 1, WFU, Stocker (Augdahl, Hassler), 12:31. 2, WFU, Spanier (Augdahl, Stocker), 16:25.
THIRD PERIOD: 3, GF, Yahna (R. Meagher), 8:43.
SAVES: WFU, Wilson 7-13-3—23. GF, Schmaltz 7-3-14—24.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
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