Piggy Banks

Did you have a piggy bank or other money container when you were small?

Did I have a piggy bank when I was small? I do believe that at some point I had a pink plastic piggy... but whether it ever had any money in it, is another question altogether! We did not have allowances when we were young, and getting money for a birthday or other gift was a rare occurrence indeed! Our dad was a book-keeper both professionally, and at heart, and every penny was accounted for... and we were not in the accounting, at least cash-wise! Until we were old enough to get our own jobs (the boys started paper routes at about 9 or 10 years of age; I had to wait until I was 12 or so to begin babysitting for the grand sum of 25 cents per hour), we simply almost never had cash of our own, though we'd occasionally set up a lemonade stand, and perhaps earn 25 cents among us for several hours of sitting in the blistering sun! Dad did start giving allowances when I was about 11 or 12 years old (so the others got allowances at younger ages, as I was oldest), and he would give me 25 cents per month. I had to put 10 percent in the offering, but since 2 1/2 cents was impossible, I had to put in 5 cents. I also had to put 10 per cent in the bank, which again became 5 cents. Therefore, my allowance was actually 15 cents per month, which was enough, at that time, to buy 3 doughnuts, or 1 bottle of pop with 3 cents left over, or 2 popsicles, or 15 penny candies, or 60 four-for-a-penny jawbreakers! Difficult decisions, indeed. I generally saved up for several months, in order to buy small Christmas presents, or to have a bit of spending money on summer holidays. Years later, I had a huge pink plastic piggy bank which I filled with pennies to play Rummoli with; however, by the time it had about $8 or so in it, the weight was too great, and it split in half! I have had a couple other piggy banks since then; but none of them have managed to hold much money, despite the fact that my children think I'm a bit of a tightwad!

Posted: Jun 14, 2008