Tag: Pink Pig

Somewhere in the family archives, there is a photo of me as a toddler sitting on the lap of Santa Claus, my face bunched up in a teary-eyed primal scream. Obviously, the concept of the jolly ol’ Saint Nick was not sitting well with me.

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.

In the mid-1950s, Rich’s executive Frank Pallotta had an idea: If the annual Great Tree wasn’t enough to coax holiday shoppers to Rich’s downtown department store, then a monorail would be. Dubbed the Snowland Express, the rickety three-and-a-half minute ride over the toy department—and later the roof—cost a quarter, making it a magnet for kids and a moment’s reprieve for parents to study their shopping lists.

Get into the holiday spirit with caroling, light displays, the Pink Pig, and more

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker—and it’s also the final season for the show’s choreographer, retiring artistic director John McFall. Here’s where the Tchaikovsky classic fits in with the city’s other long-standing holiday traditions.

Enjoy the holiday season with ice-skating, carols, real live reindeer, classic children’s plays, and more

Start spreading the news! Although Atlantans almost never get to experience the joys of building snowmen in meadows and all visions of making snow angels are dashed by the realities of Decembers marked by alternating frigid rain and balmy days in the 70s, a new ranking of "Top Ten Winter Wonderlands," trumpets Atlanta as number one.

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