What are ya — yellow? The rubber duck carries filaments of American
history in its 'feathers'
[October 24, 2026]
By CLARE SOLLY
NEW YORK (AP) — It's not just a squishy noisemaker. The rubber duck is
an American invention with a deep and rich past.
The cute, often yellow toys have seen a resurgence in recent years,
especially in tourist shops from the U.S. Open to Buckingham Palace, and
are beloved across the world.
The duck’s origin story was forged in fire, according to popular lore.
Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanized rubber, is said to have shaped
leftover rubber into a duck as a chew toy for dogs and a teething aid
for babies. (This heritage lives on in one Ohio minor-league baseball
team — the Akron RubberDucks.)
Vulcanization made the rubber waterproof and mostly indestructible, but
also heavy. It wasn’t until 1931 that Elenore Shannahan revised the
design so it would float and become part of bathtime fun. The patent
states her toy could “produce a fountain-like effect, and enable the
playing of pranks by one person on another by the squirting of a fine
stream of spray upon the face or other parts of a person.”
The Walt Disney Co. and Seiberling Latex Products created a floating
Donald Duck water toy in 1938, which helped the rubber duck become
popular around the globe. The vinyl duck known today traces to sculptor
Peter Ganine’s 1947 design, according to St. Neots Museum.
When the rubber duck was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame,
the museum said its “bright color, smooth texture, and (for some)
squeaky or quacky sounds sharpen toddlers’ senses,” solidifying its
usefulness around the house.
[to top of second column]
|
A rubber duck wearing a gold chain necklace is surrounded by smaller
ducks in Phoenix, AZ, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario
Lopez-Mills)
 The bath toy also inspired a
Billboard hit. “Rubber Duckie” peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100 in
the magazine’s Sept. 26, 1970, issue. The song earned the first
Grammy nomination for Jim Henson, the voice of Ernie on “Sesame
Street,” according to the Grammy Awards website.
In 1992, a spill of 29,000 plastic bath toys, including rubber
ducks, into the North Pacific Ocean created both a mess and a large
scientific experiment, Allison Boyle of the Science Museum in London
said on its website. Oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and James
Ingraham used reports from beachcombers to track the toys around the
world, not only to follow the plastic debris but also to “refine
their models of ocean surface currents.”
“Even the cutest of children’s toys plays a role in ocean health,”
said Rachel Schoeler, manager of the Great Canadian Shoreline
Cleanup website.
From chew toy to bath toy, Billboard hit to oceanographic tool, the
rubber duck has made waves across American history.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
