Holiday season is here. The economy is on the upswing and American consumers are doing their part to sustain the recovery. For toddlers, a lovable bath toy gift is the bright yellow floating favorite, the rubber duck. Upon squeezing, the rubber duck also squeak-quacks, which delights youngsters. And they retail for under $5 dollars at some outlets and fit readily as stocking stuffers.
Rubber ducks are icons of contemporary American pop art culture, and were popularized on the children’s television show Sesame Street. Mostly for fundraising or charitable events, over 200 rubber ducky races are held annually in rivers, lakes and streams across America. Lotte Larsen Meyer of Oregon notes in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Culture (http://www.celebriducks.com/pdf/rubber_duck_history.pdf), “Like teddy bears and security blankets, rubber ducks may serve as loving imaginary companions, providing children with something to talk to and play with when they are alone.” She quotes photographer Jon Wright that ‘‘rubber ducks are attitude adjusters of the highest magnitude . . . [they] soften up the biggest grouch.’’ According to http://www.rubberduck.com, over 1million rubber ducks are made in the USA year round.
However, there is a dark side to rubber ducks. According to USA Today, in 1992 a freight cargo ship bound from China for the USA was lost at sea in a North Pacific storm, in which 29,000 toy ducks made of synthetic, highly durable plastic were released to ride oceanic currents and waves. With some rescued on beaches thousands of miles away as far as the United Kingdom and others still afloat over more than two decades since their escape, the seafaring rubber duckies represent indestructible trash (see http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-07-31-edit_x.htm).
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