12 Things Georgians Over 50 Remember About the Pink Pig and Christmas at Rich’s
For years, crowds packed Forsyth Street on Thanksgiving night to watch Rich’s light the Great Tree.
If you grew up near Atlanta, you may have been one of them.
Here’s what Georgians over 50 remember about the Pink Pig and Christmas at Rich’s.
1. Toy Department Monorail
The Pink Pig started out as a children’s ride that circled the ceiling of Rich’s toy department.
The first pig was named Priscilla.
An idea from a Rich’s executive became an Atlanta holiday tradition.
The Atlanta History Center dates her debut to 1953, and it says Rich’s called that department its Wonderland of Toys.
If you rode as a kid, you left with an “I Rode the Pink Pig” sticker.
Three Debut Dates for the Pink Pig
That 1953 date isn’t the only one in print.
Atlanta Magazine reports the ride debuted in 1956, citing a 2012 book by Jeff Clemmons.
Another History Center page on Rich’s dates the Pink Pig monorail to 1959.
2. Rooftop Ride
By the 1960s, the Pink Pig had left the toy department and rolled out onto the roof of Rich’s.
The track was reconfigured to send riders out of toy land and onto the roof.
3. Percival, the Second Pig
Demand for the ride was so high that a second train, Percival, was added in 1964.
Rich’s ran both pig monorails until the downtown store closed in 1991.
4. Santa’s Secret Shop
Santa’s Secret Shop at Rich’s let children buy small presents for their families.
It opened on the fifth floor in 1960.
No moms or dads were allowed inside.
Elves, mostly high school volunteers, collected a few dollars and helped children pick out presents.
If you shopped there as a kid, you chose your gifts without Mom or Dad.
5. Great Tree’s 1948 Start
The Great Tree sat atop the Crystal Bridge, which spanned Forsyth Street.
The bridge connected the main store with the Store for Homes across the street.
Rich’s first put a Christmas tree on the roof of the Crystal Bridge in 1948.
Once the track moved to the roof, Pink Pig riders got an up-close look at the Great Tree.
A 1967 book says people approaching Atlanta had seen the Great Tree high on the skyline every Christmas since 1948.
6. Thanksgiving Night on Forsyth Street
Rich’s lit the Great Tree on Thanksgiving night.
For many years, crowds packed Forsyth Street to watch the Great Tree light up on the Crystal Bridge.
The Atlanta History Center says the lighting drew crowds in the hundreds of thousands, counting people who watched on television.
Channel 2 Action News aired the lighting live for many of those years.
For many Atlantans, the lighting signaled the start of the Christmas season.
7. Downtown Store Closing
Rich’s closed its downtown store in 1991.
The flagship store stood at 45 Broad Street.
That ended the Pink Pig’s rooftop ride.
The Great Tree moved to Underground Atlanta.
If you remember riding on the roof, you remember that downtown store.
8. Egleston Festival Years
The Pink Pig found a temporary home at Egleston Children’s Hospital’s Festival of Trees after the downtown store closed.
That festival raised money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for more than 30 years before it shut down in 2009.
According to the Atlanta History Center, Rich’s donated Priscilla and Percival to the museum in 1996.
9. Great Tree at Lenox Square
Rich’s Great Tree moved to Lenox Square around 2000 and stayed there through 2022.
In 2023, Macy’s retired the Great Tree Lighting at Lenox Square.
That ended a Rich’s tradition that began in 1948.
10. Priscilla’s 2003 Return
The Pink Pig returned in 2003, when a new version of Priscilla debuted at the Rich’s store in Lenox Square.
The same year, Rich’s and Macy’s merged to become Rich’s-Macy’s.
The Rich’s name came off the nameplate in 2005.
The new ride was called the Pink Pig Ride.
In 2004, Rich’s-Macy’s helped publish a book about the ride, I Rode the Pink Pig.
National Public Radio described it in 2008 as a short train ride in a tent in Macy’s parking lot.
If you rode it at Lenox, you rode the newer Priscilla.
11. Priscilla’s Retirement
The last ride came in 2019.
The ride took 2020 off because of the pandemic.
Macy’s retired Priscilla in 2021.
Priscilla had been a holiday tradition in Atlanta for more than 50 years.
Psst! How much do you know about Georgia’s holiday history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Georgia Holiday Trivia
Answer these questions on Georgia’s holiday history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In December 1864, a Union general telegraphed President Lincoln an offer of a Christmas gift. What was it?
12. Duluth Festival Comeback
The Pink Pig came back in 2024, this time at the Georgia Festival of Trees, held at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth.
A ride cost $5 in both 2024 and 2025.
In 2024, the festival ran the ride from Nov. 23 to Dec. 1, closed Nov. 27-28 for Thanksgiving.
The 2024 festival's beneficiaries were Street Grace and Atlanta Redemption Ink.
The festival brought the Pink Pig back for a second year in 2025, with ride proceeds supporting the nonprofit Street Grace.
The festival's website says the Pink Pig Trackless Train is set to return for a third year.
The 2026 festival is scheduled for Nov. 21-29.
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