The famous Peabody Ducks are a wonderful sight, as they waddle from the elevator to the fountain and back again. They stay and play in the fountain all day! What started as a joke has become a long-standing tradition in the Peabody Hotel, Memphis. You can see these ducks in the Grand Lobby, or watch them waddle to and from the elevator twice a day. Whether you stay in the hotel itself or not, you are able to go to the lobby to see the ducks. As something to do in Memphis, it only takes a small amount of time and is quite a quirky attraction.
About The Peabody Hotel
The Peabody Hotel is one of the most historic hotels in Memphis. The original hotel opened in 1869 and quickly became a social and business hub. This original hotel was in a different location to where the Peabody is now. It was in 1925 that a grander hotel was built in the present location.
After a few bumpy years, the hotel closed in 1973. Then in 1975, Belz Enterprises bought the hotel and brought it back to its former glory.
The Peabody Hotel Is Rather Extravagant
The History Of The Peabody Ducks
The Peabody Ducks tradition was started in the 1930s. In 1933, the general manager of the Peabody Hotel, Frank Schutt, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a hunting trip to the Peabody Hotel. When they arrived, they had already had one too much to drink (it is claimed that they’d had too much Jack Daniels) and thought it would be funny if they put some of the live decoy ducks (the use of live decoys was legal in America at this time) in the fountain.
The first Peabody Ducks were three small English call ducks. The reaction from the guest was as unexpected as the joke – they loved the ducks in the fountain of the Grand Lobby! Not long after the original joke, the call ducks were replaced by five North American Mallards.
In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke offered to help drive the ducks to the fountain each morning and back to their pen at night. This soon became the famous Peabody Duck March. Pembroke served as Duckmaster until 1991 when he retired. But this didn’t stop the March of the Peabody Ducks. And the position of “Duckmaster” at the Peabody is the only position of this sort in the world, and sometimes celebrities are allowed to be “Honorary Duckmasters”.
The “Duckmaster” Drives The Peabody Ducks To The Fountain From The Elevator And Back
The Peabody Ducks Today
The Peabody Hotel ducks still consist of five North American Mallards – one drake and four hens. The ducks are not domesticated and so are not treated as pets and are not named. The ducks are raised by a local farmer and spend three months living the life of luxury at the Peabody Hotel. After three months they are retired and live as wild ducks on their original farm.
The Peabody Ducks In The Fountain
When they are not playing in the fountain the Peabody Ducks live in the “Royal Duck Palace” on the hotel roof – which you can also visit. This pen cost about $200,000 and is made from marble and glass, and has a scale replica of the Peabody Hotel as a house for the ducks It even has its own fountain! All the ducks have to do to spend three months in this luxurious apartment is waddle into the elevator for the morning Duck March and back into the elevator in the evening! They are so special that they even get the red carpet treatment during their march.
Visiting The Peabody Ducks
If you want to see the Peabody Ducks, it is completely free to do so. You can wander into the Grand Lobby during the day and see the ducks in the fountain. The Lobby has a bar if you would like to stay for a while to watch the ducks.
The Duck Marches take place twice a day, At 11 am the ducks come down the elevator and are shepherded to the fountain, then at 5 pm the ducks are shepherded back to the elevator. If you want to get a good view of the ducks marching, get there early, as it’s a popular attraction in Memphis.
The hotel even offers a Ducky Day package! This package includes one night’s accommodation and you get to help the Duckmaster on one of the Marches. So you can really be involved with the Peabody Ducks.
Peabody Duck March
How To Get To The Peabody Hotel
The Peabody Hotel is on Union Avenue in Memphis and is hard to miss really. It’s about a twenty-minute walk to the Peabody Hotel from the train station. All you have to do when coming out of the train station is head north on Main Street. The first street intersection that you will come to should be GE Patterson Avenue. If you go past St Paul Avenue on your left, you have gone the wrong way.
Carry on along Main Avenue until you reach the intersection with Peabody Place, turn right here. At the next crossroad, turn left onto 2nd Street. You are literally walking around the Peabody Hotel at this point. So at the next crossroad turn right (this should be Union Avenue), and you should find the main entrance.
There are various tours that will take you to see the Peabody Ducks, like this one which will take you around Memphis, as you discover the city’s history, as well as seeing the Duck March at the Peabody Hotel.
The Ducks Make A Bit Of A Mess Around The Fountain!
There’s definitely more to Memphis than Elvis, and if you’re heading to this city you should definitely make time to see the Peabody Ducks. It’s quite the quirky tradition and probably the only place in the world that you’ll see it!
Want to visit the Peabody Hotel Ducks? You can check out the Peabody itself and other accommodation in Memphis on Tripadvisor.