Life In The Ozarks Captured In Two Local Exhibits

Life in the Ozarks captured in two local exhibits

Pigskins may not have anything to do with their namesake swine -- they're actually made from cowhide -- but hogs have been an important part of Arkansas culture since long before the University of Arkansas adopted them as mascots in 1910.

"These wild boars were called razorbacks because of their high, hair-covered backbone and ill-mannered temper," the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture states. "The razorback hog was considered ruthless and dangerous when backed into a corner."

FAQ

‘A Boy’s Toys’

WHEN — Through May 2, 2015

WHERE — Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale

COST — Free

INFO — 750-8165 or shilohmuseum.org

FAQ

‘Hog Wild: Our Area’s Love Affair with the Pig’

WHEN — Through Aug. 9

WHERE — Rogers Historical Museum

COST — Free

INFO — 621-1154 or rogersarkansas.com/…

"While based in large part on the words of the football coach who claimed his team played like a band of wild razorbacks, today, the university is proud to be the only major college sports team with a porcine name, and with a unique cheer, a live mascot and the iconic hog hat," says Terrilyn Wendling, assistant director at the Rogers Historical Museum. "Arkansans are proud to be Razorbacks."

And, she adds, "no exhibition about our area's love affair with the pig would be complete without a display of Razorback memorabilia."

But "Hog Wild: Our Area's Love Affair with the Pig," open at the museum through Aug. 9, also looks at the pig as a necessity to life in the Ozarks for hundreds of years.

"Farm families in Northwest Arkansas have always raised a pig, not as a family pet but for fattening for the fall slaughter," she says. "A single pig could provide a family with fresh meat, bacon and lard for the winter when fresh meat at the local general store was hard to come by."

According to Wendling, "objects and a first-hand account of the hog slaughtering process will be heard and seen on display," along with an explanation of how "early farming practices allowed for the free range of hogs, causing towns like Rogers to pass ordinances restricting the wandering of hogs on city streets and creating fines and other procedures for the holding of stray pigs."

And while the love affair with Hogs might be unique to Arkansas, the exhibit also points out that pigs have been part of superstitions, art and literature for centuries.

"Some ancient cultures sacrificed pigs to their gods and made them zodiac animals, while other cultures banned them and depicted them as unclean," Wendling says in her exhibit notes. "Most people know the story of 'The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf' originally penned in 1840, (and) the nursery rhyme 'This Little Piggy' dates to the 18th century in England. And who hasn't owned a piggy bank?"

NAN What's Up on 04/11/2014

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