Mass hysteria, anyone?
Did you fall for any of these 10 outrageous fads?
Image: txking
Every generation leaves behind a few trends that make the next one wonder what they were possibly thinking. You probably can think of one or two from your childhood. Long before viral challenges, folks climbed flagpoles, fought over dolls, bought rocks as pets, and turned playground games into miniature economies. Some of these crazes lasted for years, while others disappeared almost overnight. Yet for one strange moment, each of them was enormously popular.
1
People spent weeks sitting on flagpoles
In the 1920s, sitting still became a spectator sport —as long as the seat was on top of a flagpole. Stuntman Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, from New York City, helped launch the craze in 1924 by remaining aloft for 13 hours and 13 minutes. Soon, imitators across the country were competing to stay up longer.
Kelly kept raising the bar. He spent seven days on a pole in St. Louis, 23 days in Baltimore, and 49 days and one hour above Atlantic City’s Steel Pier in 1930 . He ate, shaved, and even slept on his perch before the Great Depression helped bring the strange craze back down to earth.
2
College students crammed themselves into telephone booths
In 1959, American college students embraced a wonderfully pointless challenge: stuffing as many people as possible into a telephone booth . The fad had already appeared overseas, including a 25-student attempt in Durban, South Africa, before spreading rapidly across U.S. campuses.
At Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, 22 students squeezed into one upright booth , producing one of the craze’s most famous photos. Arguments soon broke out over rules: Did feet have to fit? Could the booth lie sideways? By the end of 1959, the fad was already giving way to the next campus novelty.
3
Pet Rocks were a thing
In 1975, advertising executive Gary Dahl came up with the perfect low-maintenance pet: a rock. For about $4, buyers received a smooth Mexican beach stone in a cardboard carrier with straw, air holes, and a tongue-in-cheek manual explaining how to "train" and care for it .
The joke became a genuine business sensation. Dahl later estimated that about 1.5 million Pet Rocks were sold, especially during the 1975 holiday season, making him a millionaire. The craze faded almost immediately afterward, but it proved that clever packaging could turn an ordinary stone into a national phenomenon.
4
Raccoon coats became a college status symbol
During the Roaring Twenties, enormous raccoon-fur coats became a fashionable badge of college life . Princeton’s student newspaper reported in 1923 that the coats were "as thick as flies" on campus. They were warm enough for chilly open cars, but they also signaled money and status .
They were expensive, too: typical prices reportedly ranged from $350 to $500 in the 1920s (worth about $5,840 to $8,350 today). Football star Red Grange and movie heartthrob Rudolph Valentino helped popularize the look , and the 1928 song "Doin’ the Raccoon" celebrated the fad. After the 1929 crash, however, such extravagant outerwear lost much of its appeal.
5
Troll dolls were everywhere
With potbellies, oversized heads, wild hair, and faces that were more odd than cute, troll dolls somehow became a huge American toy craze. Danish creator Thomas Dam developed them in the 1950s, and by the 1960s the strange little figures had become enormously popular in the country .
Americans bought more than one million genuine Dam trolls in 1964 alone. Demand for their distinctive hair reportedly grew so large that Dam’s company bought Iceland’s entire sheepskin harvest. The popular dolls had a revival of sorts in the late 80s and early 90s, but nowhere near their first wave.
6
Cabbage Patch Kids caused shopping mayhem
Cabbage Patch Kids turned holiday shopping into chaos in 1983. The dolls, based on creations by Georgia artist Xavier Roberts, came with names, birth certificates, and adoption papers. When Coleco mass-produced them, demand quickly overwhelmed supply across the country.
At a Hills store in Charleston, West Virginia, about 5,000 shoppers reportedly crowded in during one sale. Elsewhere, customers camped outside, grabbed dolls from carts, and even suffered injuries in the rush . More than 2.5 million dolls (not counting the black market versions that preyed on the craze) were sold in their first year, with a price tag ranging from $18 to $35 depending on location.
7
Pogs took over playgrounds
For a brief stretch in the 1990s, colorful cardboard discs became serious playground currency. Pogs grew from a Hawaiian milk-cap game revived by teacher Blossom Galbiso around 1991. Players stacked the discs and struck them with a heavier "slammer," trying to flip them over .
The trouble came when children played "for keeps," taking any Pogs they flipped. Arguments, theft, distractions, and concerns about gambling led many schools to ban or restrict the game.
8
Dance marathons lasted weeks
Dance marathons began as a 1920s endurance craze and became far harsher during the Great Depression. In 1923, New York instructor Alma Cummings danced for 27 hours, inspiring imitators . Promoters soon turned marathon dancing into paid entertainment watched by large crowds.
Contestants could be required to remain in motion for 45 minutes of every hour, day and night, with only brief rest periods. Some events lasted for weeks: a 1935 marathon in Wenatchee, Washington, ran for 1,492 hours . Cities increasingly objected to the grueling conditions, and Seattle banned the contests in 1928. The bleak Depression-era extremes of the fad were dramatized in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? starring Jane Fonda.
9
The Davy Crockett caps craze
When Disney aired its Davy Crockett television adventures beginning in late 1954, actor Fess Parker helped turn the frontiersman into a national sensation. Children suddenly wanted the hero’s trademark coonskin cap, complete with a furry tail hanging down the back .
At the height of the craze, about 5,000 children’s caps were reportedly selling each day. "Polly Crockett" versions were even marketed to girls. By May 1955, TIME estimated that Americans had bought about $100 million in Crockett merchandise.
10
More than 20 million Hula Hoops sold in four months
When Wham-O introduced the Hula Hoop in 1958, the toy became one of the fastest-moving crazes in American history. Founders Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin were inspired by hoops used by Australian children and developed a lightweight plastic version for the local market.
The company promoted the toy directly to schoolchildren, and the strategy worked spectacularly . More than 20 million Hula Hoops were sold in the country within four months. Wham-O was reportedly producing around 20,000 a day as competitors rushed in, before the mania faded almost as quickly as it had begun. Nowadays, Hula Hoops are still popular, but nowhere near their heyday.
