Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Happy 100th Pike Place!

The local wonder that is Pike Place Market is celebrating its centennial.


Some of you may remember this pic. It is Susie, Lil Rita and I by the Pig at the market.

Now, recently I was speaking to a long time local who was ignorant about the pig's origins which I found SHOCKING. So here's the skinny on Rachel, yes, that is right, the pig's name is Rachel.

"Rachel, the Market's bronze piggybank, has been bringing in the bacon for the Market Foundation since the Market's 79th birthday in 1986. People from all over the world feed Rachel with pennies, quarters, checks, pesos, lira, yen, and rials, contributing $6,000 to $9,000 to the Market Foundation each year.Rachel weighs in at 550 pounds and was created by Georgia Gerber, a sculptor living on Whidbey Island, Washington. She was named after a real 750-pound pig named Rachel, the 1985 winner of the Island County Fair. Rachel's favorite holiday is March 1, National Pig Day."

There is going to be a Pigs on Parade 2007 event as a fund raiser.

Mr. Logo entered a contest to name one of the entries. I'll let you know if he wins.

I am headed to the market and to lunch with Mr. Logo. I'll let you know if the place looks older.

19 comments:

Nessa said...

I have four piggy banks, one for each coin denomination. Yes, I know, anal.

lime said...

rachel is a cutie. have a fun lunch

armalicious said...

Very cute picture.

Good background info on the pig. I would probably wonder why there was a bronze pig in the market place if I visited. But then, I'm not a local, so that would be understandable I guess.

Anonymous said...

I CANNOT believe I missed National Pig Day!!! Damnit!!

Bsoholic said...

Is that the famous market were the toss fish around?

DaMasta said...

Hey Bs, I used to have a shirt from that fish-tossing place..

That's so cool, Logo! I wanna feed the pig!! I hope you take new pics at lunch :)

Balou said...

I met Rachel in December when I was in Seattle but didn't know the history. Thanks for the Rachel bio! And I'm so jealous you get to pop to the market any old time. I didn't get to spend near as much time as I wanted there. Next time!

Joe Masse said...

"... the skinny on Rachel." Thought that'd get past me, huh? I don't think so!

Jocelyn said...

I gotta put a pig outside my house. If I do, my kids may actually be able to pay for college one day.

Unknown said...

I have to admit. I knew absolutely nothing about that pig.

yerdoingitwrong said...

I ADORE Pike Place Market. I walk there all the time at lunch at grab the big boquets of flowers.

Great post, girl. I particularly loved it!

Logophile said...

Goldennib~ Since you already know I won't say it, but dang, girl!

Lime~ It was a great day! Rachel is pretty cute, and she is from the island I grew up on, did ya catch that?

Arm~ There are always loads of tourists getting their picture taken with the pigs. At least if you do it you will have the back story.

Snavy~ I know, next year, next year.

BS~ YES! In fact that stand behind us in the that picture is the exact one, they were closed for the night.

Damasta~ Thank you for supporting the locals, well done. I didn't take my camera, darn it, that would have been a good idea!

Balou~ Rachel mentioned you fondly yesterday :p I actually am a little jealous of Mr. Logo who works one block away from the market and gets to go any old time he wants. The grass is always greener...

Joe~ :p I should have known you'd be the one to point that out. You caught me.

Jocelyn~ Hmmmm, you'll have to let me know how that goes, I like the idea. You've made me all self conscious about my comma splices :p

Dorky dad~ I'm here to help. What else don't you know?

Annie~ We had lunch at the Pike Pub, mmmm, spicy stuffed salmon, sooo good. The flowers are always fabulous and oh how we love the Uli's.

The Grunt said...

Let me guess, that's the little piggy that went to the market.

robkroese said...

Next year I'm totally celebrating National Pig Day with a ham sammich.

Logo - Come play in my caption contest!

S said...

I feel honored to be part of the piggy celebration! Hurray!

Jacob said...

Oh just GREAT. Yet another sideways jab at cops. Okay, you guys, I get it. Bacon? Pork? Pig? Yeah, I get it.

Logophile said...

Grunt~ Yup, that's the one!

Diesel~ I told you I would come back, sheesh, don't nag!

Susie~ As well you should be, huzzah.

Gawpo~ Tee hee, definitely a pork product of some kind.

The Zombieslayer said...

I have a Pike's Place Market story for you.

Once upon a time, we had a foreign exchange student from Japan. Bad idea leaving yours truly alone with a college girl from Japan. Anyways, that's off topic.

She came over to my place and I had fruit on my table. She asked what is was for. I told her for anyone who wanted it. First off, she thought I was lying. I said no, if you want some fruit, take some. Then she thought I was showing off.

So after some confusion, I found out that fruit in Japan is literally more then ten times the price it is here. So I took her to Pike's Place Market and instead of buying fish, she bought a bunch of fruit.

(This is back when I lived in Seattle obviously).

Logophile said...

Are you confessing to engaging in acts of indecency with a foreign exchange student?? I'm shocked.
When I am down there lately I've been getting grapples.
They smell like grapes, look, crunch and mostly taste like apple but with a yummy grape twist.
Soooo goooood!
Culture crashing at Pike Place Market, it's a beautiful thing.