Seattle's Sparkling Playground: Rachel the Bronze Hog and Her Golden Piggy Bank

Nestled in the heart of Seattle's iconic Pike Place Market, you'll bump into Rachel – a life-size, witty bronze pig, best known as none other than a piggy bank. Known as the Market Foundation Piggy Bank, Rachel the Pig, or simply Rachel, was crafted by the gifted hand of Georgia Gerber on August 17, 1986. Scululpted to a size of roughly 36 by 66 by 16 inches, this jovial hog weighs about 550 pounds, just like a pig named Rachel who once roamed Whidbey Island.

This friendly piggy bank has been collecting coins, approximately $9,000 each year since 2006, and her charity drive was boosted to $20,000 in 2018. Funds raised from her coin slots are utilized to aid local social services at the Pike Place Market. Bronze paw prints serve as a pathway to Rachel, and a nearby plaque shares a heartfelt donation from Fratelli's Ice Cream that sparked her creation. This very same plaque also reveals that donations into the top of Rachel's head slot benefit local human service organizations.

Rachel had a minor setback in 2011 when she had a run-in with a taxi, causing her to take a tumble off her base, but she was mended at Gerber's studio on Whidbey Island and returned triumphantly to the market on March 18, 2011. Rachel was also joined by her countryside companion Billie at the Western Avenue entrance to the Market in 2011.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons