Those of us who live in Cincinnati have gotten used to the fact that we live with flying pigs. With a wink and a nod when people ask, "You're from Cincinnati? Isn't that where I read about (saw) the flying pigs?" we say, "Sure enough! That's us!"
We have flying pigs all over the place. The first flying pig arrived in 1988 as part of the artwork at Sawyer Point on the Ohio River in celebration of the city's bicentennial. There was a huge debate about this symbol for our city with arguments pro and con as city council members donned pig noses to engage in the debate. Eventually, the pigs won and four flying pigs top the artwork of riverboat smokestacks at the park.
But, artwork of four flying pigs on the riverbank wasn't enough for us. We had begun to grow fond of our fame in connection with flying pigs, so, in the summer of 2000 we had a flying pig decorating contest. Flying pigs suddenly appeared on almost every street corner and in almost every lobby; they can still be found there.
The one above is proudly displayed in the Delta Terminal at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Click here for Google's list of pictures of Cincinnati's flying pigs. There are thousands of pictures so I guess plenty of people thought them important enough to capture on film or disk.
There is a great time line and funny history of Cincinnati Flying Pigs here.
The quick answer to the flying pigs in Cincinnati, though, is that they are the pigs' spirits flying to heaven from the slaughter houses in Cincinnati when Cincinnati was just developing into a city. Other businesses grew around the pig slaughterhouse business including meat packing companies and the famous Procter & Gamble. Those slaughter houses also earned us the nickname "Porkopolis."
So, if you don't already live in Cincinnati and/or know the story of the flying pigs, you now know some very important information about our glorious city. *chuckles* (Yes, we find the flying pig thing funny, too.)
Lois
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What fun..lol. Now I've learnt something new about Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteHello Lois
ReplyDeleteIt was new to me - but then we don't all know everything about every place in world do we:))
I did wonder if it was maybe the fact that you get things done there - you know the saying about wanting something done and pigs will fly lol
Take care
Cathy
I have always heard the saying "When pigs Fly". Perhaps that is where it originated! Interesting history lesson Lois. I really had no idea! Love Di ♥
ReplyDeleteThanks Lois for all this pig stuff. History....get it where you can....if not in school, then in Lois' blog!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are still walking the streets on Cincinnati vs behind bars with no camera!
This brought a smile to my face at an otherwise dull day at the office!
ReplyDeleteThat is so very cool! Neat photos.
ReplyDeleteThe Flying Pigs are new to me and I've been to Cincy numerous times...guess I wasn't in the right spot, or perhaps I saw it, but didin't realize it was a flying Piggie. Enjoyed the site with more and more piggies!!...debbie
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I hadn't heard about the flying pigs of Cincy, but now I will know to look for them. The flying pig at the airport is great, and I enjoyed checking out some of the other flying pig renditions.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've enjoyed the flying pigs as much as we do here. They are a lot of fun. We need to laugh at ourselves sometimes and this is certainly a good reason to do so!
Thank you, everyone, for stopping by.
Very best,
Lois