Writer of Pop Culture

Cool and refreshing news about pop culture and entertainment.

This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for March 23

The Pet Rock, the elevator, Beat the Clock and it’s National Puppy Day.

March 23, 2020

2–3 minutes

2006: National Puppy Day

The very first National Puppy Day was celebrated on this day in 2006. It was created by animal behaviorist Coleen Paige. In addition to awareness of just of lovable puppies and worthy of adopting, the day also serves as an awareness of puppy farms and mills. (Image: Pixabay)

1857: Going Up?

In 1852, inventor Elisha Otis created the first safety elevator in that the car would come to a halt if its hoisting rope should break. The next year he founded the Otis Elevator Company in Yonkers, New York. He demonstrated his new project at the New York World’s Fair in 1854. He installed his first elevator within the E.V. Haughwout Building on this day in 1857. Sadly, Otis died four years later. (Wikimedia /Bettmann/CORBIS)

1950: ‘Beat the Clock’ Debuts on TV

Beat the Clock is one of the earliest kooky TV game shows that actually began as a radio show known as Time’s A-Wastin’ in 1948 by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. At that time, it was hosted by Bud Collyer. It changed its name to Beat the Clock in 1949 premiering on CBS TV on this day in 1950 as an evening show. During each episode, contestants were given a series of tasks that they needed to finish within a minute highlighted by a giant countdown clock. The budget for the show was pretty low compared today’s standards. Props were everyday objects used in usual ways. Playwright Neil Simon was among the early stunt writers for the show. Proving popular, a daytime version of Beat the Clock was created 1957, but it only ran for a year before moving to ABC where it stayed until 1961. The show had a brief revival on CBS from September 1979 to February 1980 and a kid’s version aired on Universal Kids from February 2018 to July 2019.

2015: The ‘Inventor’ of the Pet Rock Passes Away

One of the most bizarre fads of 1975 was the introduction of the Pet Rock “invented” by Gary Dahl. It has been reported that Dahl came up with the idea while he was in a bar and had overheard two women complaining about their pets. He came up with the idea of a small rock nestled in some bedding and placed inside a brown cardboard box with air holes and an instruction book about how to care for it.

How popular were the Pet Rocks? Dahl sold over a million of them at $3.95 each in a matter of months during the holiday season. He tried other “inventions” (including the Sand Breeding Kit), but none of them were nearly as popular as the Pet Rock. In 2001, his first book, Advertising for Dummies was published.

Sadly, Dahl passed away on this day in 2015 at the age of 78, but his rocks will live on forever. (Image: Wikipedia)