This morning at 5:30am Texas time we pulled a rubber duck from the Random Object Randomogrifier. At first I thought it was a sneaky addition by my little girl, but random is random.
Sketch & Coffee, Live! is streamed daily at 5:30am, Texas Time, at the YouTubes
Rubber ducks are stranger than they look. They go all the way back to the 1800s when vulcanized rubber was new. Those early ducks were solid chew toys meant for teething toddlers. The floaties, and the squeakers would not come along until the 1930s. Once the hollow design and squeak arrived, they became perfect bath companions.
By the 1960s Ernie on Sesame Street had one, and in 1970 the “Rubber Duckie” song hit. That throwaway skit sold five million ducks in a single year. The song was everywhere and duck sales soared, proof of how much influence a children’s program can have. Today, they still sell about a million a year.
In 1992 a storm knocked a shipping container into the North Pacific and 29,000 ducks spilled out. Those ducks drifted across the globe for years. Some washed up in Alaska, others made it to Australia, and many slipped through Arctic routes into the Atlantic. Scientists tracked them to study ocean currents. A freak accident turned into a floating experiment.
More recently, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman built fifty-foot rubber duck sculptures that have toured the world since 2007. On the lighter side, Jeep owners trade ducks in a tradition called “Duck Duck Jeep,” and my kids hide miniature ducks all over my mother’s house. My wife collects movie ducks, too. The rubber duck has gone from teething toy to bath buddy, from pop star to global art, from science tool to family prank. Not bad for a little yellow squeaker.
Click here to watch this episode of Sketch & Coffee!
Also, if you or a teacher friend would like a 20-30 minute lesson plan covering rubber ducks, feel free to download and share this one:
Leave a Reply