Rubber Ducky Day
Are you like me and just hearing the phrase “Rubber Ducky” causes you to start singing the song in your head? For some reason, that song has been coming to my mind repeatedly over the past year. No reason, nothing sets it off, all the sudden the song is in my head and the words just start coming out of my mouth. and I’m singing, “Rubber Ducky, you’re the one, you make bathtime so much fun…” If you don’t know the song I’m talking about, here it is on YouTube.
My First Introduction
I was no longer a child when Sesame Street first came out, and even my baby brother was a little too old for Sesame Street in 1969, it;s first season (yeah I’m THAT old!). So my first experience with the song was when we went to Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in the early
History of the Rubber Duck
Sesame Street did not create the rubber duck. Actually, the rubber duck was created as a chew toy, then a hunting decoy in the late 19th century. It did not float. The first patent for a rubber duck toy was in 1904. There were problems with the ability of the duck to float and not fall over because of the head. And many tried to solve that problem. But it was not until the 1940’s that the rubber ducky really took on the form we know today and became popular. Peter Ganine created a rubber duck sculpture, patented it, and then had reproductions of it created as floating toys. Multi-millions of them were sold from his patent.
Is it made of rubber?
The rubber ducky is actually not made of rubber. The original two toy was a form of the rubber that Mr. Goodyear had developed in the
Universally Known
The “Rubber Ducky” is universally known today. A few months back I went to meet a friend at a coffee shop and alongside the coffee shop was a waterfall and they had a whole bunch of rubber duckies that you could pick up and take it to the top and drop it in and watch it go down this canal waterfall thing that they had. It was really cute. And, of course, I stood there singing Rubber Ducky” while I was waiting for my friend.
Even the Queen
In 2001, The Sun, a British tabloid reported that Queen Elizabeth II has a rubber duck in her bathroom that wears an inflatable crown. Truth or fact?? I don’t know. Pictures were not included.
Collectors
Rubber ducks of all kinds are one of the most collectible items. One woman holds the world’s record for the “most rubber duckies” having over 5,600 rubber ducks in her collection.
Rubber Duck Derbies and River Runs
We love the Rubber Ducky SO much that there are River Runs, Derbies and more. Here are a couple on YouTube but there are MANY, MANY videos.
Hall of Fame
The rubber duck was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.
The Rubber Duck Accident
In 1992 a shipment of 28,000 rubber duckies fell off an ocean freighter. [Interesting Factoid: When these shipments fall off boats, they are not recovered.] Rubber duckies being what they are, floating
There is an incredible story about how they are using this spilled shipment of rubber ducks to track currents and track how all the waterways seem to be interrelated. Years and years later these rubber duckies, called ” Friendly Floatees,” are still washing up on shores all over the world.
You can read one of the incredible
Even Blue Planet did a story on their series. It’s available on some pay services and through this news article from The Sun.
Which leads to…
This leads us to the discussion of all the garbage in the oceans and seas and how it floats around and collects in various places. Which was part of the Blue Planet episode where they talked about the duck
But For Today…
But for today, we’re just going to celebrate Rubber Ducky Day. And now that I have the song playing in your head all day, remember to sing it with your kids or grandkids.
#rubberduckyday #collectors #bathtoys #bathttime #toys #riverrun #derby #historyofrubberducky #nationaldayof #rubberduckaccident #freighters #pollution #environmentalimpact
Sources:b1creative.com/blog/the-history-of-the-rubber-duck/
Wikipediahttps://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-can-28000-rubber-duckies-lost-at-sea-teach-us-about
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4963360/blue-planet-ii-28000-rubber-ducks-lost-sea-25-years-ago-still-washing-ashore/
Updated: For the second time I’m taking out duplicated blocks of text. If there are duplicates, there’s not a lot I can do until Microsoft fixes and issue their latest update caused. I have a ticket in and they said they will fix it.
Thanks for understanding.