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The Origins of Pike Place Market’s Famous Pig
How did a pig become the symbol of a market best known for fish?
This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
When you think of Pike Place Market, its fishmongers may come to mind—with their entertaining fish tossing, they tend to attract a lot of attention.
A few feet away, however, is something a little less flashy and a little more sentimental: Rachel the Piggy Bank.
Although plenty of Seattleites and tourists take a moment to ham it up for a photo with the 550-pound bronze pig, they may not realize they’re in the presence of a local hero. In 1986, the nonprofit Pike Place Market Foundation decided a piggy bank was just what was needed to help raise funds to support housing and services for low-income neighbors. The foundation hired Whidbey Island sculptor Georgia Gerber to create the bronze beauty, christened “Rachel” in honor of the 750-pound pig who won first place at the 1985 Island County Fair.
The market’s unofficial mascot has been bringing home the bacon ever since, collecting an average of $10,000 per year to support the community.
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Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…
Studio Sessions: Ling Chun
The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…