There are several Piggly Wiggly stores in the greater Racine, Wis. area. When talking about them we referred to them as “The Pig”. Great stores to shop at and they update (expand and modernize) them for their customers.
Yah here in da midwest its da Pig.I always shop at da Pig-good bakery. Some of the stores in the mid to late sixties looked like an airplane hanger with vaulted roofs. One is still in Mundelein Illinoiz where I grew up.
in New York we call it “Road Kill” : - )
mike
Used to be PW’s in my area (Mpls-St.Paul MN) but I think they’re all gone from here now. Red Owl too, though I’m not sure if they’re around anywhere or not?? We used to have Country Kitchen restaurants too, there’s one across the St.Croix in Hudson Wisc. and up in northern MN, but none around here anymore.
Here in South Carolina, everyone loves “the pig”. They even have bumper stickers promoting “Piggly Wiggly”. I love to walk through the meat section and see packaged chicken feet , cracklin, puddin and hog jowls. In the movie “Driving Miss Daisy”, miss daisy always shopped at the “Pig”.
When I was a kid I would spend some time during the summer with my Grandmother
in Duluth Minnesota, she shopped at Piggly Wiggly (not there anymore) GOD I’m
getting old, that was 60 years ago.
The “Harven”
Here in Memphis at the Pink Palace (which was supposed to be the Cla-Le- Clair of Clarence Saunders, founder of the Piggly Wiggly stores) we have a replica of the original Piggly Wiggly from 1919 (or therabouts) So we are quite well aware that the chain has been arround a long time. Incidentally, Saunders lost the chain just prior to the Crash of 1929.
I remember the chain from the early 50’s. I’m told that I used to call it the “hoggle woggle”
The Pig would be appropriate for any southern city or town the were pretty much everywhere.
Way of topic - but I have a P.W. piggy bank from the opening of a new P.W. in Georgia. Was just passing through, needed a bag of pork rinds - they had a marching band there, some guy who won a local tractor pull, amusement rides, clowns … er … local politicians, the local Veteran’s club, volunteer fireman, and a leggy young southern belle in a P.W. costume handing out the banks. Was quite a commotion and everyone was having fun.
Nowdays - they throw up a pre-fab building and open it up without as much as a howdy-do.
That Piggy Bank’s been sitting on my mantel for over 20 odd years now. Reminds me of better days.
I remember my ma sending me to piggly wiggly to get stuff she needed for fixing supper…they were all over San Antonio Texas back then…i remember the Gibson dept. stores too (there’s still one on Fredricksburg road that’s still open) and then there was another store that rivaled Piggly Wiggly…does anyone that lived in Texas remember Handy Andy grocery stores?..
The Handy Andys are still around. They bought up all the Wuest’s supermarkets. They are a pretty low end grocery store. I would definately think their days are numbered if they don’t clean their act up a little. HEB managed to take out just about everybody else, so Handy Andy needs to TRY to compete.
Being in the 1950’s era in the west, I’m surprised the P.W. store’s not shaped like a pig.
Would I shop at supermarkets with names like ‘Piggly Wiggly’ and ‘Hinky Dinky’? I don’t think so! Man, am I glad I live in Canada!
The Handy Andys are still around. They bought up all the Wuest’s supermarkets. They are a pretty low end grocery store. I would definately think their days are numbered if they don’t clean their act up a little. HEB managed to take out just about everybody else, so Handy Andy needs to TRY to compete.
[/quote]
When I first read this I just saw the words “Handy Andy” and immediatly remember the hardware stores we had in the midwest called that. Great place 2 shop. My dad and I used 2 always by our plywood there for our layouts. Handy Andy grocery store though that had 2 have been cool.
DON
I go back further than that. Before Handy Andy (it was a hardware and lumber yard) it was called Forest City. That was the start of the big box home center era in my area.
I worked at the Piggly Wiggly in Thomson, GA during my high school years, 1976-80. It was a great place to work, also a great place to meet girls from 4 counties since it was the largest grocery store for miles.
As if Piggly Wiggly wasn’t a funny enough name, I had one customer that always called it the Piggy Wiggy.
Jay
Even a California Boy like me has heard of Piggly Wiggly. You guys have got to read more than train mags. 
OK maybe not.
Out here in the Central Valley we have the Big Potato Market!!!
So guys, Beat that.
I recently bought the City Classics West End Market kit to make into an A&P Market. In the kit an offer was included to get decals to make it into an A&P Market. The decals I received also had Piggly Wiggly, Winn Dixie, IGA, National, Kroger, Thorofare, and Safeway decals on the same sheet. So if you do get the West End Market kit, you can get Piggly Wiggly decals for it. If they include these decals with the kit and advertised it, they might sell more kits.
I haven’t seen any PW’s around here in North Carolina, but back in New Orleans there are still a few in operation. They are in Gretna and Westwego, Louisiana, two municipalities just outside of the city. These stores have not changed since the day they opened back in the 60’s and 70’s. When I was in high school a friend of mine was a stock boy at one of the local PW’s that has since shut down. I remember how he could get the check out lady to sell him beer before he turned 18.
When I was a kid in the 60’s, I remember when Hinky Dinky burned down on the main street of town and had to build a brand new structure around the corner. Quite a lot of hoopla. Balloons, parade, music, cooking demonstrations, etc. all day long. I was young enough that I just thought “hinky dinky” was the correct term for “food store”. It wasn’t until we moved into the city that I realized that not all food stores were hinky dinkies. When I was a teenager, we moved to Texas, and I learned about Piggly Wiggly. Oddly, I thought that was the weirdest name for a grocery store. I had no right to think that, coming from Hinky Dinky - ville.
Azteceagle,
I found a picture of an old Piggly Wiggly sign at this site.
www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/greatplains/gpsign/grpothersign/
I think it’s about the right era for you.
I also found this truck pic, but I think it’s a little too modern.
www.hankstruckpictures.com/sh_misc_grocery.htm
If you go to Google Images and type in Piggly Wiggly, there are lots of images you could download to make your own decals.
BTW I’m going to be modeling a ficticious town in Central Texas also, but I plan on doing the 1920’s to 1930’s with the T&P and maybe the T&NO.
Gary