August 12, 2007 Pigs

I love pigs. I think I may have mentioned this before. It all began with a little pig named Arnold Ziffel. For all intents and purposes he was the son of Fred and Doris Ziffel on the sixties television show Green Acres. He was one smart pig. He could play the piano and change the television channels on the family television. And that was before we had remote controls. He even went to school with the other children. I fell in love with Arnold and thus began my appreciation of the pig. I love the way pigs look, the way they snort, their curly tails and the feel of their noses. My love of pigs may be in the genes. My father used to tell me his mother had a pet pig. This column is a celebration of the pig.

When I set out to write this column I didn't realize that 2007 is the year of the pig in the Chinese lunar calendar. According to the February 17th edition of The Seoul Times newspaper it is actually the Year of the Golden Pig, which happens every 600 years. People born in the year of the pig have a kind and understanding nature and included are famous people such as Julie Andrews and Steven Spielberg. The Royal Canadian Mint is offering a beautiful lunar hologram gold coin of a pig. It is available for $498.95. Canada Post is offering a beautiful embossed pig stamp. I think it is more in my price range.

The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery is a good good book. If you read only one book about pigs this year, this should be it. Animal lovers will enjoy the heartwarming tale of the special bond between Christopher Hogwood and his family. Adopted as a sickly runt, he grew to nearly 750 pounds and lived for fourteen years. A celebrity in his hometown he had many human friends. He taught his extended family all about life, love and growing old gracefully. A pig of simple needs he
enjoyed eating, and resting in the sunshine on a summer's day (who doesn't). I thought I knew a lot about pigs, but found out many interesting things.

One of my favourite pig movies is Babe. It was recommended to me by several people and I purchased it sight unseen. What an adorable little pig he is. If you aren't familiar with the story, Babe lives with the Hoggett family, where he is reared by a border collie. He thinks he is a dog and develops excellent sheep herding skills. This movie was nominated for six Academy Awards, one of which was for best picture. The library carries Babe on both dvd and videocassette.

There are many well known quotations involving pigs, such as to buy a pig in a poke. What does that actually mean? According to the book Have A Nice Day – No Problem! by Christine Ammer, it means to purchase something sight unseen and risk disappointment. It comes from an old practice of vendors who put a cat in a bag, rather than a suckling pig. One of my favourite pig authors would have to be none other than Miss Piggy. The library carries Miss Piggy's Guide To Life. It's a fun book to read full of information on fashion, diet, exercise, romance, etc. She offers beauty tips for a variety of problems such as crow's feet. You just have to wear little scarecrow earrings. I've credited Paris Hilton with the popularity of using a small dog as an accessory. In fact Miss Piggy lists very small dogs in her what's in fashion list, and this was written twenty five years ago. She was a pig ahead of her time.

The Complete Pig by Sara Rath has adorable photos of pigs and piglets of every type. It's filled with quotations and interesting bits of information. For example did you know that a pig-puzzle is a gate that is made to swing both ways? Apparently there are lots of these in Scotland, but they use them for sheep. Have you ever been to a Piggly Wiggly store? According to this book they were the first self-service grocery store in America. Prior to their opening in 1916 customers would give their order to a clerk, who would retrieve items on the list. I wonder if they had an express clerk, who could move really fast? For more information on the store visit www.pigglywiggly.com It
has sample meals, complete with recipes and their nutritional values and you can even convert the recipe to a shopping list, which you can then print out.

If you are a Winnie the Pooh fan, you may have noticed that you see a lot of Winnie and Tigger, but not much of Piglet. A few years ago I was happy to see Piglet finally get the recognition he deserved, his own movie. When he goes missing, Pooh and the gang has to search for him. It's a story about friendships and how they come to appreciate what an important little pig he is. The library carries Piglet's Big Movie on dvd, as well as the soundtrack.

If you are looking for articles on pot bellied pigs, please try one of the magazine indexes in our Virtual Collection, such as InfoTrac OneFile. Remember the Virtual Collection is available 24 hours a day.

I hope you have enjoyed this column. Perhaps you learned something new and came to a new appreciation of the pig. I enjoyed writing this column, but it was over in a pig's whisper (which is a reference to time, it means merely an instant).

Karen Craib, Library Technician, Reference Services