Football and Squirrels and Flying Pigs?

For those of you living in cellars with no radio or television, it may have slipped past your notice that the Super Bowl is nearly upon us. Football with an oblong ball, muscly men wearing shoulder pads and helmets. A fair amount of swearing and Gatorade drenching. I love football, have for as long as I can remember.

Football plays double-duty in our house – we’re fans, but DH is also a broadcaster so in the fall on Friday nights he can be found broadcasting high school football games, talking to coaches and players and generally re-living his youth. Yeah, football plays a big part in our home in the fall.

I'll never forget taking bebe to her first professional game. RadioMan has been a Bengals fan (don’t laugh, he’s serious about his love of the Orange and Black…just ask any of the stress animals he’s destroyed over the years) forever,

As we were driving downtown Cincinnati we noticed a curious thing: pigs. Not your normal, small, pink, cute piglets. Ginormous, statuary painted in a way that might make some psychedelic 1960s refugees throw up in their coffees. And some of them had wings. I can only assume that those pigs, so horrified at their paint jobs, decided it was time to fly the coop. Unfortunately wings don’t react well to cement.  They’re still stuck there.

In all seriousness, the pigs are kind of cute. Except the one that reminded me of Darth Vader. That one I’m still trying to forget. So we asked a few people about the pigs. Why were they made? What is the connection between Cincinnati and pigs? What gives? Most people shrugged and went on their way. We gave up.

Then, after leaving the game we decided to go for ice cream. Graeter’s is a Cincinnati thing. It’s the
most awesomest ice cream. Ever. You will not convince me otherwise. The nearest Graeter’s to our hotel was in one of the suburbs…in which we were shocked to find strangely painted (and some with wings), ginormous squirrels. Pigs. Squirrels. We asked around again. No one knew.

I know cities commission these types of statues for various events. I get that. Our town, on Lake Erie, as lighthouses all over the place. That fits – city on the lake, lighthouses. I want to know the connection between these cities and squirrels and pigs, though…I mean, is Cincinnati know for its pigs?!?

So, readers, my question – what is the strangest city-statuary you’ve seen?

Comments

  1. I remember being charmed by the cows in Chicago and the huge needle and thread in the garment district in NYC. I would venture to say the pigs are an in-your-face about the Bengals winning super bowl when pigs fly.
    Maybe. And, personally, I think squirrels are just cute. :-)

    And now I want a whole quart of that ice cream...

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    1. it's barely 20degrees here this morning and it's snowing, Liz, and I want the ice cream, too! lol

      Someone just emailed to tell me the pigs are a nod to Cincinnati's past as a butchering capital. Who knew? We'll just forget about that whole superbowl-when-pigs-fly thing. :P And the Squirrels are *kinda* cute...

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    2. LOL. Actually, I'm kind of glad to hear that about the butchering thing (which I never knew, only that Chicago was "big in pigs"), because I truly couldn't imagine why Cincinnati would denigrate its own team that way.

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  2. I live just outside of Gainesville, Florida. We've got Gators!

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  3. I really like the photo of the rainbow painted winged pig. We have Graeter's here in Indy now. It is the best. You can also order a case of Graeter's pints online. There is probably no better guilty pleasure than a secret stash of Graeter's pints in the freezer!

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  4. Sandra, are they painted weirdly?

    Isn't that one cute, Carolyn? We have a really great dairy up here called Toft's and they have great ice cream, too, but Graeters is just...ahhhhhh!

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  5. I love it! Some years back at Disney they had these oversized Mickeys creatively painted. I'm lucky to have Graeters in town. Fave: Black raspberry chocolate chunk (well maybe they call it chip)!

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    1. I haven't tried that one, Tanja...but their mint chip is ahhhhhhhhhh

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  6. I once saw pigs in Madison, Indiana. It was part of their festival and a contest. You won something if you could find them all. Why they chose pigs, I don't know. In Lexington, Ky they had horses. Well, that makes sense. Yes, painted all different ways...some where covered with replicas of dollars bills, painted like Indian war ponies, patchwork, etc. I've always wanted Wabash to do elephants during our chili cook-off because Modoc is such a part of our history.

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    1. that would be so cool, Vicki! I saw a couple of the Lexington horses on our way back from vacation this summer. Very pretty.

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  7. I have nothing fun to share--we have a standing Fort. Fort Vancouver. Does that count?

    Okay, when I finally make it out to your neck of the woods, I totally want to try the icecream. It hasn't made it over the Cascades yet.

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    1. We will have it for lunch and dinner and, on a Diamond Day for breakfast, too, sound good? :)

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