Photo courtesy of the Georgia Festival of Trees
Once the fog of childhood nostalgia lifts, many Atlantans are prone to admit that one of the city’s oldest holiday traditions—the riding of Rich’s department store’s famed Pink Pig—was also pretty damn terrifying. According to author Jeff Clemmons’ 2012 book, Rich’s: A Southern Institution, the kiddie monorail debuted at the old downtown Rich’s for the 1956 holiday season, transporting small fry 10 and under in three chicken wire–like, mesh-enclosed metal train cars across the ceiling of the toy department as parents excitedly waved below.
As the late WRNG and WSB radio humorist Ludlow Porch reflected in his foreword to the 2004 book, I Rode the Pink Pig: Atlanta’s Favorite Christmas Tradition, his four-year-old daughter was so terrified of the thing she refused to ride it without him. “That’s when I made the biggest mistake of my life,” wrote Porch. “She got into a car and I squeezed my six-foot-plus frame into a space made for an eight-year-old. It was almost too tight to sneeze. By the time it was over, my body was numb. I was unable to move, let alone disembark the pig.” Porch was finally helped out of the yuletide death trap by a teenager running the ride. Looking at the metal monorail through modern eyes, it’s a wonder Santa didn’t hand out tetanus shots and Dramamine tablets along with candy canes to the brave youngsters exiting the original Pink Pig.
According to Clemmons, even in its first year, the ride was such a hit it attracted 90,000 riders and $9,000 in revenue at 10 cents per ride. In her 1967 book Dear Store: An Affectionate Portrait of Rich’s, the late Atlanta Constitution reporter Celestine Sibley writes that by the mid-1960s, the ride (now hoisted outside on the roof of the downtown store, where riders had a bird’s eye view of the emerging skyscrapers) had grown so popular that Rich’s even began resurrecting it for holiday sales at Easter.
Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library
But in 2021, the holiday tradition was finally mothballed during the pandemic by Macy’s, where it had been running an updated version of the Pink Pig at Lenox Square (the old Priscilla and Percival Pig twin trains, mesh wire and all, are now housed at the Atlanta History Center).
Blessedly, when the Pink Pig triumphantly returns this holiday season (Nov. 23 to Dec. 1) at the 2024 Georgia Festival of Trees at the Gas South Convention Center, the brand-new ride will be completely reinvented for modern families. “The original ride probably wouldn’t work today,” concedes Festival of Trees Executive Director Angie Ulibarri. “I’ve talked to people who rode the original, and while they have great nostalgic memories, they will also tell you it was a little scary.”
Ulibarri says when she took over the festival in 2021, Pink Pig fans came out of the woodwork, pleading with her to bring back the tradition the Georgia Festival of Trees temporarily inherited from 1991 to 1995—after the downtown Rich’s store closed and before it was transferred to Macy’s at Lenox in 2003. “I’ve never told people ‘No’ so many times in my life!” Ulibarri laughs. Finally, she listened, relented, and let the festival’s marketing team and her husband have one last crack at resuscitating the tradition with the help of a trademark attorney, who reached out to Macy’s, who still owns the Pink Pig name.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Festival of Trees
Miraculously, a deal was struck between the festival and the department store to bring back the ride. But the Lenox Square Pink Pig train was long gone, so the Georgia Festival of Trees had to create a new ride and characters. The costumed mascots greeting children this holiday season at the Gas South Convention Center are Penny (short for Penelope) and Porter, the grandchildren of Priscilla, the original Pink Pig.
The new open-air, five-car trackless train transports 30 passengers at a time, from grandma to granddaughter. Tickets are $5 each. A voiceover from Penny gives riders the history of the Pink Pig, along with highlights of the festival along the route.
Ulibarri says Penny is not your grandma’s Pink Pig. “She’s really wacky, so it might be a little bit of a wild ride,” she says. “Let’s just say it’s sometimes difficult for Penny to stay on topic. It should be fun and engaging and bring back the past but also offer a fresh new twist on the Pink Pig.” Costumed Penny and Porter pigs will also be on hand for photo ops with kids, and there’s new Pink Pig merch as well, from ornaments and T-shirts to a plush Penny doll.
With just days to go now before unveiling the new Pink Pig to Atlantans, Ulibarri says she is still pinching herself that they were able to pull off the return of the famed ride. “People get very emotional about the Pink Pig,” she says. “They cry and their hands start shaking, they get so excited. We’re thrilled that the festival was able to find a way to bring back this holiday tradition that resonates so deeply with Atlantans.”
