What are the origins of the common piggybank?

Answer 1

I personally don't believe the answers that claim piggybanks came from a container called pyggs... It has been my belief that people, in order to save their money, fed it to pigs, and the pig would 'deposit' the money in a safe, well-hidden place.

That's my belief and I'm sticking to it!

Answer 2

In Middle English, "pygg" referred to a type of clay used for making various household objects such as jars. People often saved money in kitchen pots and jars made of pygg, called "pygg jars". By the 18th Century, the spelling of "pygg" had changed and the term "pygg jar" had evolved to "pig bank."

This name may have caught on because the pig banks were mostly used by children, and the pig is a child-friendly shape that is easy to fashion out of clay. Once the meaning had transferred from the substance to the shape, piggybanks began to be made from other substances, including glass, plaster, and plastic.

Another reason for the name piggy bank that has been put forward is based upon the idea that the coins given to the piggy bank represent the food fed to a pig by the farmer. It costs the farmer money to feed the pig which he does not get back until the pig is slaughtered for the meat (represented by breaking the piggy bank) which the farmer can then sell.

Answer 3

Piggy Bank History






The true history of the Piggy Bank is still somewhat uncertain but there appears to be a consensus that it derives its name from the orange clay, "pygg" from which it was originally made. In the Middle Ages people used to store items such as salt in wide necked jars which were made from a clay called "pygg". The so called "pig" jar retained its name long after potters stopped using "pygg" clay to produce pottery.

Money also used to be kept in the jars and in England, by the turn of the eighteen century, the jars had acquired the name of "pig banks", from where followed the name "piggy bank." These piggy banks were ceramic and had no hole in the bottom, so the pig had to be broken to get the money out.

Another theory is that the piggy bank acquired its name because it was fed the scraps and leftovers of ones small change until it was fat enough to be smashed, and the savings retrieved.

Whilst in Western Europe these first piggy banks are thought to originate between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries as a replacement for the clay jars, a somewhat earlier piggy bank from Bali is thought to be able to be dated back some1500 years!

To this day in some European countries, notably the Netherlands and German speaking countries, it is customary to give piggy banks as gifts because the belief is still held that pigs bring luck and good fortune. At New Year so-called "Lucky Pigs" are still exchanged as gifts. Children are still given piggy banks as birthday or Christmas presents to help encourage saving.

Answer 4

In the Middle Ages people needed places to store whatever coins came their way, but containers made of metal, glass etc. were hard to come by and not too practical. The word for a particular kind of easy-to-come-by clay was "pygg". People began making jars out of that to keep coins in. They were called "pygg banks". After a couple hundred years someone made the fanciful connection between "pygg" and "pig"; people began making their money jars in that shape, and the name (and design) stuck.

Answer 5

a dead pig with a hole in its back.