If you have watched Sesame Street over the years, you know that Ernie really loves his rubber Duckie. About every Muppet on the show has a pet, toy or other item that they are really attached to; for Ernie it is his rubber Duckie.
On Sesame Street, Ernie frequently walks around carrying Duckie and making it squeak. Ernie is the only one that seems to be able to translate those squeaks into English (Much like Elmo is the only one that hears Dorothy the goldfish talk and Zoe is the only one that can hear Rocko the pet rock).
Over the years that have been popular songs written about Duckie, including: “Put Down the Duckie”, “Do De Rubber Duck”, and “Rubber Duckie.” Those catchy songs were enough to want kids to get their own rubber ducks. Even entertainers have joined in singing about Duckie.
Although Ernie may have added to the rubber ducks popularity, rubber ducks had been manufactured years before Sesame Street was created. It is not certain when the rubber ducky was manufactured, but most believe it was during the late 1800s. The original rubber duck was made from hard rubber and did not squeak.
There are many rubber duck enthusiasts around the world. The Guinness World Records has a few categories related to the rubber duck. As of April 6, 2011 the Charlotte Lee holds the title of having the largest collect of rubber ducks, which includes 5,631 rubber ducks of various colors and sizes. That is a collection that Ernie would go “Ga ga” over. Another record is for the longest line or rubber ducks. That is held by the company Cozi when they created a line of ducks at Warren G. Magnusun Park in Seattle, Washington on June 5, 2011. The line measured 1 mile and consisted of 17,762 ducks.
There are also rubber duck races held around the world. These events attract a lot of participants that enter the race for the fun and to support a local charity. In the races all the ducks are dumped into the water. The duck that reaches the end point first becomes the winner. On September 6, 2009, The Great British Duck Race became the record holder for the Largest Plastic Duck Race. The race consisted of 205,000 toy duck that floated down the River Thames near the Hampton Court Palace in London, England.
Just like Ernie, a lot of people are awfully fond of their rubber duck.