Why is a "piggy" associated with savings for children - "Piggy Bank"?

Question

Does anyone know the history behind associating a Pig (piggy) with children's saving habits? Is there any significance behind the name Piggy Bank?

Answer 1

Comes from pygg, clay used to make pots and containers. People used to save money in clay jars...kind of evolved from there to pygg banks, then they started making them look like pigs too.

Answer 2

Why do kids save their coins in a piggy bank? Because someone made a mistake.
While the exact origin is a little uncertain, historians speculate that the concept of a piggy bank started in England during the Middle Ages, probably in the mid-1500s.
During The Middle Ages metal was expensive and seldom used for household wares. Instead, dishes and pots were made of an economical clay called pygg (a type of orange clay). Whenever housewives could save an extra coin, they dropped it into one of their clay jars.They called this their pygg bank or their piggy bank.
Over the next two hundred to three hundred years, people forgot that "pygg" referred to the earthenware material. In the nineteenth century when English potters received requests for piggy banks, they produced banks shaped like a pig. Of course, the pigs appealed to the customers and delighted the children.

Answer 3

Wikipedia suggests that the etymology for pig in piggy bank may be the Middle English "pygg" meaning a type of clay used to make household containers. For more, read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piggy_bank

Answer 4

Following the rationale of the concept of Hitler Youth and Boy Scouts, it is very important to begin your recruiting process at a very early age if you want people to follow you and your philosophy blindly when they become influential adults. The "piggy bank" similarly, was a 19th century Republican invention intended to promote the notion in young people that money and "pork" go hand in hand.