January 13th is a holiday dedicated to the rubber ducky and is aptly named National Rubber Ducky Day. What started out as the birthday of the character Rubber Duckie from Sesame Street has now bloomed into a holiday celebrated all over the U.S., and maybe even the rest of the world. It’s now officially the birthday of all rubber ducky toys in the world, so why not take the time to acknowledge our faithful bathtub companions? After all, rubber ducky, you’re the one, and you make bath time so much fun.

The History of National Rubber Ducky Day

No one really knows who invented National Rubber Ducky Day, but we do know that it comes from a Sesame Street episode in the early 1970s that mentioned the “rubber duckie” from the show’s birthday was on January 13th. It’s been mentioned that the original rubber ducky on Sesame Street was bought by Jim Henson in 1969, so that would make that particular rubber ducky’s birthday January 13, 1969.

The History of the Rubber Ducky

The rubber ducky is a toy that dates back to the late 19th century. During this time, vulcanized rubber had become popular among manufacturers, and many of them began using it to make toys such as the rubber ducky. However, this version of the rubber ducky was made out of solid rubber and didn’t float. That’s because it wasn’t designed to be a tub toy but instead was intended to be a chew toy for dogs.

The rubber duck that we all know and love today actually dates back to the 1940s. This is when sculptor Peter Ganine created a duck sculpture that he soon after patented. It was then reproduced as a floating toy for the bathtub. Over 50 million rubber ducks have been sold.

Some Fun Rubber Ducky Facts

If you’re looking for some fun rubber ducky facts to share with your friends on National Rubber Ducky Day, then we urge you to take a look at the following bullet points we’ve gathered for this holiday.

• The world’s largest rubber duck was created in 2014. It stood 19 meters tall.
• In 1992, three containers fell off a cargo ship and dumped 29,000 rubber duckies into the Pacific Ocean.
• The largest rubber ducky collection is held by Charlotte Lee. She has over 5,630 rubber duckies.
• Rubber duck races are held all over the world.
• The rubber ducky song from Sesame Street topped the music charts in 1970.
• The rubber ducky has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame. That happened in 2013.

Observing National Rubber Ducky Day

It seems to us that this day can be celebrated by giving the rubber ducky the recognition it deserves. You can do that by posting pictures of you and your rubber ducky using the hashtag #NationalRubberDuckyDay on your social media accounts, or you can simply gift someone a rubber ducky. If you want, you can even buy yourself a new rubber ducky.