Why is a piggybank named a piggy bank?

Question

I was wondering why traditional money banks are modeled on pigs? Is it just the shape or something to do with pigs?.... haha would be happy with some answers

Answer 1

because the original clay figures to save money had the shape of a pig

Answer 2

Piggy Bank
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No one invented the piggy bank.
The piggy banks' origin owes more to the history of language, than to an individual inventor.
In old English (around the 15th century) there was a word "pygg" which referred to a type of orange clay.
People made all kinds of useful objects out of clay, including dishes and jars to hold spare change.
Around the 18th century, the word "pygg" now sounded the same as the word for the animal "pig".
An unknown person(s) thought to shape a "pygg" jar, to look just like a real "pig".
Perhaps an order came in for a "pygg" jar and the potter misunderstood.

Answer 3

So why do we save our coins in a piggy bank? Because someone made a mistake. During The Middle Ages, in about the fifteenth century, metal was expensive and seldom used for household wares. Instead, dishes and pots were made of an economical clay called pygg. 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 4

Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin accumulation and storage container, most often used by children. A piggy bank is known among collectors as a still bank as opposed to the mechanical banks popular in the early 20th century. Piggy banks are often shaped like pigs and made of ceramic or porcelain. Piggy banks are used to reinforce ideas of savings and spending to children; money can be easily inserted, but the pig must be broken open for it to be retrieved (although most children easily got round this by using a knife to retrieve the coins from the slot), forcing the child to justify his or her decision. However, many modern (and most 20th century) piggy banks have a plug located on the underside of the bank to allow easy retrieval of coins. In addition, many include electronic systems that calculate and store the amount of money deposited.

Answer 5

Well if it were shaped like a water foul it would probably be called a.....

Duckie bank, now wouldn't it.

Cow - Calf Bank

Ostrich - Big Bird Bank

Dog - Puppy Bank

Cat - Pus...... nevermind

And the Pig could have been called a Bacon Bank!



g-day!

Answer 6

Well there have been all shapes of money boxes , but a favourite has been the pig shaped one,, Convenient shape to put the slot on the back and to open underneath ( unless it is one you cant open and have to smash) So was called piggy bank insread of money box,, A more kiddy sort of term.

Answer 7

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."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piggy_bank

Answer 8

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."

Answer 9

because its a shape of a pig {piggy} And u put money in it {bank}

Answer 10

Pigs survive & thrive on very small, waste materials and grow very fat. Symbolically meaning small change put in this bank will become a big amount in no time!