CAGE = Capital Area Geocaching Event
All geocachers and friends and relatives are invited to celebrate National Rubber Ducky Day at Lansing Mall Food Court on Monday, January 13 at 6 PM.
January 13 is NATIONAL RUBBER DUCKY DAY
EVERYONE attending this event will be given their own Rubber Duckie to take home and cherish, or to place in a cache as a trade item, or to go Jeep Ducking, or whatever else you can think of.
According to a 1973 Sesame Street calendar, Rubber Duckie's Birthday is January 13th so around the country it's National Rubber Ducky Day! A friend of Ernie and Big Bird, Duckie made his debut in a February 1970 episode. https://youtu.be/Mh85R-S-dh8
National Day Calendar® is pretty fond of the idea that it has to do with Sesame Street's Rubber Duckie.
The rubber ducky (also spelled duckie) has come a long way from his first concept as a chew toy for children. While the origin of the first rubber ducky is uncertain, many rubber molded toys came about when rubber manufacturing developed in the late 1800s. They produced a variety of toys from dolls and various animal shapes, including the rubber duck.
In 1928, Landon Smart Lawrence received the earliest patent for a rubber duck toy. His clever design weighted the toy so that when it tipped it returned to an upright position. The sketch included with the patent was that of a duck.
During World Wars I and II, rubber was a valuable commodity. Rationing became mandatory and by the 1940s with the advent of plastic, the rubber ducky began being produced in vinyl and plastic.
Russian Sculptor Peter Ganine sculpted many animal figures. One, a duck, he later designed and patented into a floating toy that closely resembles the rubber ducky we have become familiar with today.
Sales of the iconic yellow rubber ducky we've come to know today soared in Britain in 2001. Why? A British Tabloid, The Sun, reported Queen Elizabeth II had a rubber duck in her bathroom that wore an inflatable crown.
The rubber ducky became a Toy Hall of Fame inductee in 2013. Founded in 1998, the Hall of Fame has only inducted 52 other toys.
Rubber Ducky FAQ
Q. What is the world's largest rubber duck?
A. Mama Duck is the world's largest inflatable rubber duck. At six stories tall and weighing 30,000 pounds, the big yellow duck makes quite a splash. Owned by Big Duck LLC, Mama Duck and her baby duck travel to waterfront festivals across the country.
Q. Who has the world's largest rubber duck collection?
A. According to Guinness World Records, American Charlotte Lee owns the world's largest collection of rubber ducks. In 2011, her collection comprised 5,631 rubber ducks.
Jeep Ducking involves placing a small rubber duck on a Jeep as a way to create bonds and share a moment of kindness among Jeep enthusiasts. It's a simple gesture that's taken the Jeep community by storm, turning everyday parking lots into stages for unexpected smiles.
The act of placing a rubber duck on someone's Jeep—called Jeep "ducking" and/or "Duck Duck Jeep"—began with one person, named Allison Parliament, from a small town in Ontario. She unknowingly started a movement of kindness, fellowship, and recognition with that first rubber duck she placed on a Jeep.
Allison's reason for perching a little yellow duck on a jeep just like hers that she saw in a parking lot was simply to bring herself a small sense of joy after a frightening verbal encounter with someone earlier in the day. Two years later, that single gesture has morphed into the Jeep ducking craze that has swept throughout the Jeep enthusiast community in the United States as well as in nearly a dozen other countries around the world. "There really are not any strict rules about how to Duck someone's Jeep, but the idea is to keep the act of ducking a Jeep within polite and noninvasive gestures," Allison said. She never places a rubber duck inside anyone's Jeep. "I also never place a rubber duck on a Jeep where the driver won't find it immediately upon approaching their Jeep," she added. Her best recommendations for appropriate spots on a Jeep to duck someone are on top of the side mirrors or door handles, the front bumper, the front of the engine hood, or on the front fenders.
Since the rules of Jeep ducking are wide-open, and ducking is supposed to be an act of kindness, it seems only right that vehicles other than Jeeps should be included in your ducking activities if the mood and the vehicle suit you. We've heard of Jeep owners placing rubber ducks on vehicles that are similar in appearance to the Jeep such as Ford Broncos, Suzuki Samurais, and older Land Cruisers. There are even cars that have been "ducked-out" by their owners.
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This event is hosted by a proud Lake Superior member of
Michigan Geocaching Organization!
Geocaching since October 20, 2001
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