Manger

A manger or trough is a feeder of carved stone, wood, or metal construction used to hold food for animals (as in a stable). Mangers are mostly used in livestock raising. They are also used to feed wild animals, e.g., in nature reserves. The word comes from the French manger (meaning "to eat"), from Latin manducare (meaning "to chew").

A manger is also a Christian symbol, associated with nativity scenes where Mary, forced by necessity to stay in a stable instead of an inn, placed the baby Jesus in a manger. (Greek: φατνη phatnē; Luke 2:7).

The model F142 Freeland hog trough is fairly typical of modern manufactured troughs; it is fabricated of 14-gauge galvanized sheet steel, 26 inches (66 cm) long, 14 inches (36 cm) wide and 6 inches (15 cm) deep, with a nominal capacity of 2.5 US gallons (9.5 l; 2.1 imp gal). Prior to the Second World War, virtually all hog troughs were homemade. Confinement feedlots typically use automated feeders, sold as wasting less feed and requiring less labor.

It is a custom in rural America for an unmarried girl to perform a dance in a pig trough at the wedding of a younger sister. The purpose of this ritual is purportedly to shame old maids, but these days, the dance is accompanied by much merriment, laughter, and good-natured teasing with no real shame attached. This custom may be Welsh or German in origin, but that isn't clear.

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor restaurants, a chain with a "gay 90s" theme that blossomed to 139 locatios in the 1970s and disappeared in the late 1980s, offered a large sundae in a miniature pig trough. Those who completed the sundae without assistance of dining companions were asked to stand before the dining room and shout, in a loud voice, "I made a pig of myself at Farrell's", after which the other diners would cheer, and a ribbon would be awarded in recognition of the accomplishment.

Famous quotes containing the word manger:

    The heavenly Babe you there shall find
    To human view displayed,
    All meanly wrapped in swaddling bands
    And in a manger laid.
    Nahum Tate (1652–1715)

    Behold, a silly, tender babe
    In freezing winter night,
    In homely manger trembling lies:
    Alas, a piteous sight.
    Robert Southwell (1561?–1595)