Rubber Duck History

Today I took a picture of a rubber duck. It made me wondering about the history of rubber ducks. The rubber duck dates back to the late 19^th century.  It was originally made with hard rubber. Nowadays, the ducks are made of vinyl plastic.

Although rubber ducks were created in the 19^th century, they did not become popular until 1970 when singer Jim Henson sang ‘Rubber Duckie’. Then Sesame Street soon followed suit giving the character Ernie a rubber duck. Rubber ducks began so popular that rubber duck races began. The first race was held in Stockbridge, England in 1988. Some races have up to 30,000 ducks.

                Because there are 5,000 plus different ducks, many people collect them. The record for most rubber ducks is 5,633 belonging to Charlotte Lee. Some examples of ducks are glow in the dark, ninjas, firefighters, soldiers, and many, many more.  The ducks also come in many sizes. The smallest duck is only 2.5x2x2 cm large. The largest is over 40 feet long.

                Rubber ducks have been part of many events in history.  One of the most famous events was in 1992 when 3 containers spilled 29,000 rubber ducks off a cargo ship. These bath toys floated for years. Some being spotted in the Arctic Circle, Greenland, Alaska, New England, United Kingdom, Greenland, Canada, and Iceland. It was 2007 by the time all the ducks had reached shore. England had offered a $100 savings bond to anyone who had recovered a duck. Because of their time at sea, many ducks had turned white. This event was the subject of the book Moby Duck by Donovan Hohn.

                Rubber ducks have been a popular bath toy for a long time. Even Queen Elizabeth ll has a rubber duck. With races everywhere, 5000 plus different ducks, and news stories, rubber ducks will be hard to forget.