A Brief History of Pigs and Flight

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276 BC

If a pig can not fly, then it walks.

~ Porculus (327 – 291 BC). The Pigaleian (276 BC)

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1553

Pigs flie in the ayre with their tails forward…

~ John Withals. A Shorte Dictionarie for Yonge Begynners (1553)

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c. 1620s

Pigs might fly, but they are very unlikely birds.

~ a popular British euphemism (ca. 1620s)

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1871

The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
Of cabbages and kings,
And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings.

~ Lewis Carroll (1832–1898). The Owl and the Pussycat (1871)

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1906

RABBLE, n.: in a republic, those who exercise a supreme authority tempered by fraudulent elections. The rabble is like the sacred Simurgh, of Arabian fable — omnipotent on condition that it do nothing. (The word is Aristocratese, and has no exact equivalent in our tongue, but means, as nearly as may be, ‘soaring swine.’

~ Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). The Devil’s Dictionary (1906)

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1909

The first pig to fly in an aeroplane was taken up for a joyride in a biplane by Lord Brabazon, holder of the first pilot license in Britain.

~ TIMES, London (1909).

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1923

But it is only men, especially wise men, who discuss whether pigs can fly; we have no particular proof that pigs ever discuss it.

~ G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). Fancies Versus Facts (1923)

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1928

Owl,” said Pooh, “Could you fly up to the letter-box with Piglet on your back?”

No,” said Piglet quickly, “He couldn’t.”

Owl explained to Pooh about the necessary Dorsal Muscles. Piglet hurriedly added that he had been getting much bigger lately, “so it’s no good thinking about it.

~ A.A. Milne (1882-1956). The House at Pooh Corner (1928)

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1977

If you didn’t care what happened to me,
And I didn’t care for you,
We would zig zag our way
through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain.
Wondering which of the buggars to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.

~ Pink Floyd from their 1977 concept album Animals

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1991

The flavor of Carefree Sugarless Gum… How long will it last? It’ll last ’till pigs fly.

~ Radio advertisement (1991)

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1992

A pig who doesn’t fly is just an ordinary pig.

~ Hayao Miyazaki (b. 1941). Porco Rosso (1992)

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1994

Pork — the other white meat. Leaner. Healthier. We’re going where no pig has gone before. Come along. Take that one small step… Buy pork!

~ National Pork Producers Council, an American Trade Organization (cac. 94).

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1996

Don’t discount flying pigs before you have a good air defense.

~ jvh@clinet.FI (ca.1996)

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1997

The idea of the flying pig… of that most earthly and sod-rooting of mammals flying on wings… may be my aesthetic writ small.

~ Stan Rice (1942-2002). Paintings (1997)

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1999

[the winged swine represent] the angelic spirits of all the pigs that were slaughtered and were building blocks of Cincinnati’s prosperity. So they’re up there paying one last tribute — singing the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ — to all their (dead) brethren who flowed into the river.

~ Andrew Leicester (b. 1948). Cincinnati Enquirer (Friday, May 07, 1999)

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2001

We just want investors to know that while past performance is no guarantee of future results, with our history of building shareholder value, we think we can keep this pig flying.

~ Smithfield Foods, Inc, from a web based press release (2001)

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2008

The aerodynamic potential of pigs has long been debated. Is that plump body a proper fuselage? Can a curvilinear tail assembly function as a rudder? Will cloven appendages withstand the stress of landing? And, eh… Just where are the wings? Perhaps only the Walrus knows.

~ D.E. Schultz. Porkopolis.org; introduction to ‘Flight’ section of Quotations collection for the site’s 2008 redesign

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