Dec. 6, 1996, marked the first annual National Pawnbrokers Appreciation Day. The chosen date of Dec. 6 was no accident - it's also St. Nicholas' day, the patron saint of pawn broking.

¨ The Nursery Rhyme "Pop Goes The Weasel" refers to pawning. A weasel is a shoemaker's tool and 
to "pop" is to pawn. "That’s the way the money goes... Pop goes the weasel."

Pop and Weasel?
These words are derived from Cockney Rhyming slang which originated in London. Cockneys were a close community and had a suspicion of strangers and a dislike of the Police (they still do!) Cockneys developed a language of their own based roughly on a rhyming slang - it was difficult for strangers to understand as invariably the second noun would always be dropped. Apples and Pears ( meaning stairs) would be abbreviated to just 'apples', for instance, "watch your step on the apples". To "Pop" is the slang word for "Pawn". Weasel is derived from "weasel and stoat" meaning coat. It was traditional for even poor people to own a suit, which they wore as their 'Sunday Best'. When times were hard they would pawn their suit, or coat, on a Monday and claim it back before Sunday. Hence the term " Pop goes the Weasel"

A pawnbroker accepted Queen of Spain, Isabella of Castille's royal jewels as collateral to finance Christopher Columbus' expedition ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria for their voyage to America. Queen Isabella's quote inscribed on the statue, "Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella," in the rotunda of the California State Capitol says: "I will assume the undertaking for my crown of Castille, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds in the treasure shall be found inadequate."