New Delhi. When parents start inculcating the habit of savings in their children, they bring piggy ( pig ) banks in the house. Children are told to save their money in the piggy bank, along with they also give a little greed that when the piggy bank is full, they will be given the goods of their choice.
Earthen piggy banks are available in common homes, but if you go to a little urban environment, then some fancy piggy banks are also brought for the children. Like piggy banks of different shapes and sizes. But the most common is the piggy bank shaped like a pig. In English, Gullak is called Piggy Bank.
You must have noticed that many financial institutions put a picture of a piggy bank in the form of a savings plan. When you search by writing savings on Google Images, you will see a pig-shaped piggy bank in most of the photos. Although the real reason why Gullak is named Piggy Bank is not a pig. Rather, it is something else.
Piggy bank name comes from Pig
Several hundred years ago, when there were no banks, lockers and almirahs, people used to keep money in big earthen pots. In that period gold, silver and bronze coins used to run. In those days, pottery was made from special kind of clay. Which was called Pig Clay. The utensils in which people used to deposit their money or coins were called Pig Bank or Pig Pot.
According to the blog of Britain’s Paragon Bank, in those days Y was pronounced like U, so Pig was called Pug. However, in later years, y came to be used as i. In this way the pronunciation of clay pot pig and animal pig became the same. Now since both the words sounded the same, the potters started making pig pots in the shape of a pig. So, that saving money can be made a little fun. The trend started and with time the name of Pig Banks became Piggy Bank. In later years, the pig and its meaning were left behind and people started considering the pig as the origin of the piggy bank.
In today’s time, when all the work related to money is done through UPI, cards or net banking, then many people do not prefer to keep cash. But to develop the habit of savings in children from a young age, it is necessary that they are given some cash for their expenses and also taught that they have to put the savings money in their piggy bank. This habit that starts from piggy bank later turns into habits like FD, RD, SIP.