Strange customers - Pig Piggy Banks 2025

These are not piggy banks at all, not for saving but for growing cress (chia sprouts) on them. The round hole is peculiar and does not invite one to put money in. Not even paper money (because you cannot get it out in one piece anymore).

Chia Pets are terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. Moistened seeds of chia (salvia hispanica) are applied to the grooved terra cotta figurine body.

The Dutch cress piggy can be used 2  ways: as a piggy to grow watercress on and as a piggy bank. It’s made of chalk. It was popular as a gift in the 1960’s. But never a great success, because the Dutch prefer to grow herbs in their gardens (or on their balcony) and not in the kitchen, let be on a pig.

There are several models of the piggy bank with a hammer. All have playful texts, some come in crates, others have bandages to suggest that they were smashed before. In Germany and France well known and available in souvenir shops. All without a stopper, otherwise the hammer makes no sense. Michel Caugant is a French company (Bonduelle group) that produces deli. Amongst them pâté. Nothing special, but this pâté is displayed and sold in nice faience tureens. The lid is formed in the shape of an animal, amongst them pigs and also a real piggy bank. That is once you have eaten the pâté. A disadvantage however is that the lid makes it very easy to get the money out of it. There is also an example from Portugal.

The condition to enter my collection is earthenware, porcelain or plaster. I have 2 piggy banks in contrast to my rule: one of papier-mâché and one with shells. “Why in the collection, since your rules are so strict?” The one of papier-mâché is from Cuba. The person who bought it for me told me that the Cubans at that time where so poor that they could not afford clay as material for piggy banks. It produced a smile on my face, because of that story it remains in my collection. The one with shells is from the Philippines, is in fact of stony material. So it fits my definition in a way. Do you like a piggy bank connected with a plant pot with a cactus? I bought one, pure kitsch of course. Made in China, no doubt about that.