What
does my favorite Sesame Street character, Ernie, have to do with a
song that hit the Billboard Top 40 chart for pop/rock for seven weeks
of 1970?
That
song was “Rubber Duckie,” and since the duckie in question
belongs to Ernie, he was the singer credited with this hit!
Take
a listen—and remember that this song was on the same pop/rock
list as “I'll Be There” by the Jackson 5 and “Fire and Rain”
by James Taylor, along with hits by the Beatles, the Who, and the
Grateful Dead!
For
today's foreign language lesson, listen to this song dubbed in German—and with a techno beat!
Why
is today, of all days, “Rubber Duckie” Day? Today is the birthday
of Ernie's famous rubber duckie. But we can all celebrate with our
very own (non-famous) rubber duckies, of course!
Are
rubber duckies made of rubber?
They
used to be, in the late 19th Century—hence the name! But
nowadays more durable, flexible plastic bath ducks have taken over
the market. They are generally yellow with flat bottoms, but some
special duckies have hit the market—including an Elvis rubber
duckie. A woman named Charlotte Lee has the world's largest
collection of rubber duckies—2,583, to be exact.
Squeakers
and squirters
Some
rubber duckies squeak when squeezed. Some squirt water from their
mouths when squeezed. We can definitely say that Ernie's rubber
duckie is a squeaker, not a squirter. How about yours?
(Some
rubber duckies don't squeak or squirt. They last longer, float
better, and even stay cleaner than their fun-oriented cousins because
there is no way for water and dirt and soap scum and mold to get or
grow inside.)
By
the way...
Ernie's
rubber duckie, like most, is bright yellow with orange beak and feet.
But have you ever seen a real duck with those colors?
Rubber duckies probably get their cheerful coloring from the most common color scheme of baby duckings.
Whoa!
Check
out this amazing real-world rubber duckie story:
“During
a Pacific storm on January 10, 1992, over 29,000 rubber ducky bath
toys from a Chinese company were washed off of a cargo ship. Months
after the storm, about two thirds of the rubber duckies had made
there way to the shores of Indonesia, Australia, and South America.
Some of the ducks also entered into the Bering Straight between
Alaska and Russia where they became trapped in the Arctic ice. The
ducks slowly made their way through the ice at one mile per day and
in 2000, they were spotted in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. Talk about
some world traveled ducks!” (from My Life with Malcolm)
Also
on this date:
Today
is the birthday of the beloved puppeteer, director, and producer Jim
Henson, who tragically died from a bacterial infection when he was
just 54 years old.
