How Did Fuzzy Dice Become a Trend?
Most car owners focus on their engine’s performance and fuel efficiency, while others also focus on the aesthetics of the car’s interior and exterior, installing several accessories to make their rides look cooler and more attractive. Several decorative accessories for cars have become quite popular over the past few decades, including bumper extensions, window stickers, decals, spoilers and several others. Numerous decorations are also installed on rearview mirrors, the most popular of which include fuzzy dice.
Fuzzy dice have been around for a long time, and not many people know how or when they gained popularity. Let’s discuss more fuzzy dice and see how they became a trend.
History of Fuzzy Dice
While the history of fuzzy dice is unclear, most people believe that they first emerged during World War II. War pilots hung a decorative accessory or ornament as a lucky charm to help them brave the battles ahead of them. Mostly, these accessories consisted of items used in gambling, such as casino chips and dice, because millions of people consider them a source of good luck.
Once the war ended and these brave pilots came home, they carried the tradition of using lucky charms in their homes and vehicles, and this is how the dice turned from a lucky charm in aviation to a decorative car accessory. This decoration consisted of two plastic dice hung on separate strings. As the car moved, you could see the dice swinging about. That still doesn’t explain, however, how it became a rousing trend, which we will talk about in the corresponding section.
When Did They Become a Trend?
As mentioned above, people started using dice in their cars after World War II, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the global temperatures increased by a few degrees, and these plastic dice started melting from prolonged exposure to sunlight. At this point, manufacturers started experimenting with different materials, and finally settled on foam or fabric dice, which became known as ‘fuzzy dice.’
From the 50s through the 1980s, you could see a handful of cars with the fuzzy dice on their rearview mirrors, everywhere you went. Since they grew in demand, many companies started manufacturing them in different sizes, colors and styles. Due to this, every person could find a fuzzy dice decoration to match the color of their car or their favorite color. It helped them look cool, stylish, attractive or in line with recent trends. Earlier, young men who came back from the war chose to customize their rides as a way to express their true selves.
Fuzzy Dice and Street Racing
The second world war also brought about a class of military men who were excellent mechanics and decided to upgrade their vehicles to attain more speed and get some thrill out of it. Soon, a street racing culture was born, and the sight of fuzzy dice on the rearview mirrors of military veterans transformed into a symbol of thrill and speed.
Over the years, the illegal street racing culture developed into a full-fledged sport, and the fuzzy dice continued to be a symbol of it. So much was the craze for fuzzy dice in cars that one state in the United States chose to ban them. It was found, however, that there is no correlation between fuzzy dice and people who drive recklessly.