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| Did You Know? |
- St. Nicholas is the patron saint of pawnbrokers. His birthday, December 6, is National Pawnbrokers Appreciation Day
- The beloved nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel" might be about pawning."Pop" is a Cockney slang term for "pawn," while "weasel" is slang for any of several tools used in shoemaking. Thus, in the song, the money comes and goes as the cobbler pawns his tools.
- Even kings and queens use pawnbrokers! England's King Edward III was a known client of the House of the Lombards during the 14th century, and Queen Isabella, of Spain, pawned her jewels to finance Christopher Columbus' voyage to America.
- The universal symbol of pawn broking-three gold balls suspended from a sort of fork-originated with Italy's famous Medici family.
- About 75% of all pawned items are redeemed.
- There are several movies about pawnbrokers, including Charlie Chaplin's "The Pawnshop" (1916), Mutt and Jeff's "The Pawnbrokers" (1920), and Rod Steiger's "The Pawnbroker" (1964).
- There are approximately14,000 pawnshops in the U.S.
- The world's largest pawnshop is the Dorotheum, in Vienna, Austria. Established in 1707, it conducts some 2400 auctions a year and processes over 700,000 items.
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