It’s crazy how manufacturers slide money in their pockets due to gullible consumers which is an existing practice. Remember the pill ring? It was a huge gaudy hunk of cheap metal which had a lid that would open on the tiniest hinge. This would expose a little nest where you were to put your medication -- of course that was in the seventies. Just about everything was acceptable back then, but it was rather stupid because anyone that had any good “medication’ was going to guard it much better than that.

Talk about misuse of time, there was the watch that came with seven different bands, each having a day of the week embroidered on it. There were no directions, but it was pretty obvious that you were supposed to take the little clips out and change the band each morning. There’s nothing like advertising that you’re having a bad day by wearing a Wednesday watchband on Thursday.

The Mr. Bill pin was an embarrassment to anyone that was living at the time. Mr. Bill was a man molded out of PlayDoh and earned a weekly spot on Saturday Night Live. Bill would always get flattened at the end of the skit. There were people sporting pins that look like Mr. Bill, and always had a reference to “OHH… NOOOO”, Mr. Bill’s only words. It’s hideous when people don’t realize that not everything belongs on their chest.

Speaking of pins, if the Pet Rock wasn’t ridiculous enough, there were people that proudly showed off a brooch version. The sales pitch was to make it easier caring for your pet by attaching it to you, rather than have to carry the box with the rock in it along with you. The people who are selling this stuff are geniuses – it’s the consumer who swallows the hook, line, and sinker. Rumor has it that the Pet Rock guy bought the Hope Diamond.

It’s kind of sad that class rings are considered geeky these days. It’s probably for the best since the parents worked hard to buy these rings for the kids, and before the check even hit the bank it was on a girlfriend’s finger or around a boyfriend’s neck. The poor sucker who paid never even got the chance to see it. Graduation paraphernalia is also genius.