History of Piggy Banks
The oldest piggy bank found was during the excavation in Asia Minor at a Greek colony of Priene, whiahc was shaped as a Greek Temple with the slit being in the pediment and unlike our modern ones with a hole in the base to empty the bank, this one had to be broken to be emptied. Other money storeage boxes have been found at Pomeii and Herculaneum.
The Etymology of the Word Piggy
An orange clay called pygg was used to make storage jars and pots for salt and flour in the middle ages, when empty they were easy vessels to keep spare change in. Long after the clay had been substitiued by other materials such as ceramic the term pygg was still used to mean a jar which you stored the spare coins in.
Over time the spelling and vocalisation of the word pygg changed to pig and it was probally someone then made the first bank as a play on the word, the final evoution of the word pig was in the i8th century when it bacame piggy bank.
Another explanation for the word pig being used was that the banks fed on the scraps of the money from the weeks wages.
The Evolution of the Piggy Bank.
After the first piggy bank had been made the shape and design continued to give pleasure to many children being taught the value of saving and the importance of chosing wisely what to spend your hard earned savings on as the banks had to be broken to be emptied.
Gradually over the years the design altered to have the familiear opening and the began to come in various colours and designs. The term money box was orginally used to describe the boxs given away by banks for promotional reasons but is now used for the various shaped boxes.
Piggy banks and money boxes now come with ability to add up the total of pounds saved. They also can sort coins into their relevant groups, and come in al shapes such as robots and atm machines with cards to pay in and take out the money. Some of these boxes also can be set to let you know when a set amount has been saved.
In the past few years the traditional none opening piggy banks have come back into fashion with pottery jars with a slit, once broken they can be used as flower pots.
helen badger - My name is Helen and I am 34 years old, living in Plymouth in sunny Devon Uk. I have a degree in psychology, and have always been an avid ...
