I never tried shaking my pet rock. Maybe it would have giggled if I had done that. But, despite its obvious failure to be what I would consider a real toy, I bought one of those Bitzee things for ...

Made popular by novelty toy entrepreneur Milton Levine ... to friends complain about their pets. Dahl said the rock was the perfect pet, which did not need to be washed, fed, walked or groomed.

Pet Rocks and Beanie Babies were a set of convertible toys that emerged as a major fad during the late 70s and the 90s, respectively. Much of their value was derived out of hype. Brandt drew ...