Mel Birnkrant's
Mel Birnkrant's
All Original Toy Concepts, Written and Photographic content is Copyright MEL BIRNKRANT
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          In spite of the popularity of Miss Piggy, these pigs, called, “Pigtails” didn’t fly.  They’ve been hanging around here a long time. The date on the bottom of each drawing indicates that the year was 1987.  That pretty much tells the whole story.  I had parted ways with Colorforms the year before.  And, although, several semi successful concepts, Weenies, Sleep Stars, and Animax were secretly behind me, I was still working in anonymity.  With a whole universe of choices available, why I chose to mess around with pigs remains a mystery.  I guess, I was willing to invest a day or two on any lame idea that grabbed me.  Alas, all too often, the ideas that grabbed me were echoes of my childhood.
          Piggybanks were popular when I was a kid.  They were not merely an expression!  A lot of people, child and adult, alike, really had them.  By 1987, perhaps, the name alone remained, as merely an out of date cliché.  Although, I didn’t realize that at the time, I should have known better.
          Pigs, in general, were never hugely successful.  And whenever they did appear, beginning with the Three Little Pigs, of the depression era, their stories were always about whether or not they would be dinner.  Porky Pig, was the popular comic character of my wartime childhood.  His very name referred to meat.  His lady love was called Petunia; I guess, for no particular reason, other than the fact that it began with P.  Conjuring her image now, I see that she had pigtails!
          I think I just discovered, all these years later, the origins of this concept, “Pigtails.”   As you have seen by now, “Pigtails" were intended to be porcine fashion dolls.  And they were also banks!  Get it?  Piggybanks!   Each one had a coin slot in her back, in which a child could save their pennies, to eventually purchase another Pigtails doll.
          This non-kosher concept was never ready for prime time.  These few preliminary sketches with notations, and the four drawings that I colored in, were as far as the presentation got.  I don’t believe that it was ever written up, or handed over to my partners, KISCOM.
         It seems like, whenever I discover an odd presentation board, lying around, and lift the cover sheet  to see what it is, it’s always one of these pesky pigs.  OK, I get the message: you’ve waited patiently.  This is your opportunity, your first and final chance to achieve immortality at last.  May you float in peace for an eternity, on the Ocean of the Internet.