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June 10, 2013 by tomdalzell

Major Quirky #6: 1735 McGee and the Little Piggies

Have you seen the little piggies?

Well, what to say?  I can say that 1735 McGee is a small, neat house in neighborhood of small, neat houses in the northern flats.  And that there are a lot of pigs.  Rusty pigs and ceramic pigs.  A little farm scene behind a fence with a miniature windmill.  You don’t see them all at first.   Keep looking. Pigs everywhere.  This is a collection shared with the world.  I wonder what the inside of the house looks like.  I have a pretty good idea, I think.  Pigs.

This is the first of several major quirky sites that I will share based on small figures.  For pure joy this can’t be beat.  It enjoys, you can see, a high quirkometer rating for kids.   Let’s see the pigs….

Quirky Berkeley

Quirky Berkeley

Quirky Berkeley

Welcome

Pig 6

Sunflower

Corner scene

Pig 10

Pig 13

Quirky Berkeley

Quirky Berkeley

Upper weather vaneL1330036Garage weathervane

And lastly a sad reminder of the fate that befalls many real-life pigs:

Lard time

I had been by McGee several times, and had taken a large group with Berkeley Path Wanderers there, all without knowing who or how or why.  Time to find out!

Diane OutsideL1330035

I knocked on the door.  I met Diane Hamm.  I talked with her for an hour.  A lovely hour at that.

Diane Hamm is Berkeley born and raised.  In the photo above she surveys McGee street, wearing a bright orange WHATEVER shirt.  She has been collecting pigs and pig-related ephemera for 60 years, starting with a Steiff stuffed pig that her grandmother gave her.

HPPCLogo

She is a member of the Happy Pig Collectors Club. She estimates that she has 5,000 pigs figure and ephemera.  She married a man named Hamm – how perfect is that!  She calls her outdoors display her “Hammsty.”  As in pigsty – right?

Here are a few photos of her collection:

Wall Pink Plate Trophy and toys Kitchen Shelf 2 Kitchen ShelfMagnets L1330010Cookie Jar black pigsL1330021Farmer Peet's LardL1330011

She has close to 100 antique lard tins hanging from ceiling hooks in her kitchen.  These are her favorites, Farmer Peet. Note the changing logos.

She has 75 pig T-shirts with which she will make a quilt.  That’s a quilt I’d like to see.

On the delicate issue of consumption – she likes a good pork sausage or pork chop, but avoids ham and on the whole would rather eat a piece of beef.

Hamm speaks of the children in the neighborhood and how they have a sense of ownership in the outdoor pieces.  People bring her pig figures.  Her pigs make her happy.           And it makes me happy that she shares a small part of her passion with the street, giving us a glimpse of a wonderful collection.

Who knew that so many pigs existed???

IMG_3677

Here you will find photos of the oddball, whimsical, eccentric, and the near-rhyme quirky material culture of Berkeley.
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