We all know and love the classic Piggy Bank. Indeed, as children we may even have had one or more of these early savings devices.
But where did piggy banks come from?
Piggy banks have actually been around since the 14th – 15th century and where found in both Western Europe and Java in South east Asia.
Money boxes have been around for even longer with the oldest example going back as far as the 2nd century BC.
So how did we come to put our money in a pig shaped box?
The short answer is piggy banks started out as nothing more than clay jars, into which people in the middle ages made deposits of coin.
The clay was a cheap orange coloured clay known as ‘pygg’.
Over time the pronunciation of ‘pygg’ changed from ‘pug’ to the ‘pig’ we know today and of course then some enterprising potter decided to shape a money jar into the shape of a pig.
Now there is actually a lot more to this story, and it is well worth the read. If you have kids why not share the history of the piggy with them too.
To dig a little deeper and learn more about the history of this famous savings device read the article, ‘The Accidental Invention: The Origin Of Piggy Banks’.
