Peabody Ducks, Memphis

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Taken from the Peabody Memphis website: The tradition of the famous Peabody Marching Ducks began in 1933. Peabody General Manager Frank Schutt, an avid sportsman, and a friend Chip Barwick, returned empty-handed from weekend hunting trip in Arkansas. The two friends had a bit too much Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and decided to play a prank and put their live duck decoys (which were legal at the time) in the fountain in the hotel's Grand Lobby.

Three English call ducks were placed in the fountain, and the reaction from hotel guests was nothing short of enthusiastic. Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks.

In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity until his retirement in 1991.

In 2003, The Peabody Memphis conducted an extensive search for a new Duckmaster, garnering the attention of national media outlets such as CNN, the CBS Early Morning Show, and The Wall Street Journal. The Duckmaster is solely responsible for the care and wellbeing of the Peabody Ducks, including feeding, exercise, and training the teams for their daily march.

Today, the ducks are housed in the "Duck Palace" on the hotel roof. Every day at 11 am, they are led by the Duckmaster down the elevator to the marble fountain in the Peabody Grand Lobby. A red carpet is unrolled and the ducks march through crowds of admiring spectators to the tune of John Philip Sousa's King Cotton March. The ceremony is reversed at 5 pm, when the ducks retire for the evening to their palace on the roof of the hotel.

The Peabody's famed ambassadors are five Mallard ducks – one drake with his white collar and green head, and four hens with less colorful plumage. The ducks are raised by a local farmer and a friend of the hotel. Each team lives in the hotel for only three months before being retired from their Peabody duties and returned to the farm to live out the remainder of their days as wild ducks.

My take: You'll need to get there early - visit the Duck Palace on the roof of the hotel, shop in the Peabody Gift shop (I bought a cute Peabody Rubber Duckie for my collection), then queue up for a good view of the Duck parade. It sounds hokie, but it is really cool. When I was there, Emeril Lagasse was the guest Duckmaster!

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Originally I wanted to see the ducks on parade but our timing didn't work out for that. However, I enjoyed seeing the beauty of The Peabody and that works for me. The ducks were frolocking in the water and it was good to see them enjoying their home. The Peabody has a gorgeous lobby and beautiful flowers on display. It was a nice excursion.

Every day at 11:00 a.m., the Peabody Ducks are escorted from their penthouse home, on the Plantation Roof, to the lobby via elevator.

Huge crowds gather.

Can't see what the fuss is all about to be honest.

One of the most famous traditions in Memphis are the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. If you go to the lobby and the great hall adjacent to the check-in desk, there you will find a fountain with a large floral display on top. At the base of the fountain you are likely to find the Peabody ducks, a mallard and four drakes, swimming around without a care in the world. Each day at 11:00am, the ducks are brought down from their rooftop "palace" via the elevator and across the lobby on a red carpet to the fountain. The process is repeated in reverse each evening at 5:00pm. If you would like to see the ducks walk from the fountain to the elevator (or vice versa in the morning) be sure to get there early. When we were there on a Friday afternoon enjoying drinks and conversation in the great hall, the crowd started gathering around 4:15pm. And what a spectacle it was. There is a duck master who trains the ducks and escorts them through their paces. He also provides some of the history of the ducks to the audience and has some of the children participate in pre-march activities. It's all a lot of fun for everyone!

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There's nothing like standing next to a red carpet watching the famous Peabody ducks Duckmaster takes the ducks from their palace in the sky down in the elevator and then onto the red carpet that has been rolled out for them to the fountain. And this happens in reverese at 5pm everyday. The tradition all started back in 1930s when the general manager and a friend were a little tipsy after a day of duck hunting and thought it was be fun to put the live decoys into the fountain. To their amusement the guests loved it so to this day the tradition of the ducks in the fountain continues. It's a really cute thing to watch that's for sure!! It is a must see in Memphis!!!! There's nothing like it!! :-)

the peabody hotel is a very old, famous, and majestic hotel near the beale street area. it is fun and relaxing after a long day to go there and sit in the lobby area, whether or not you buy a drink, and watch for famous people (the hotel is very expensive). no one tries to get you to leave or make you buy something. at certain posted times, a parade of ducks gets off the elevator and marches in perfect formation to the fountains.

there are several VERY EXPENSIVE little shops off the lobby area. there is also a terrific pastry/sandwich/breakfast shop at one end of the hotel that is very reasonable in prices, and the pastries are sensational, especially if you love chocolate.

The March of The Peabody Ducks is really neat and is performed at 11am and 5pm each day, 365 days a year. It has been taking place for over 76 years in the lobby of The Peabody hotel in Memphis.

A 50-foot red carpet is laid out, stretching from the hotel elevators to the marble fountain in the lobby. The Peabody Duck Master escorts the ducks from the Royal Duck Palace on the hotel's roof, to an elevator specially reserved for them. The five Mallards, one drake and four hens, with their Duck Master, emerge from their elevator to the music of John Philip Sousa's King Cotton March.

They march on the red carpet, then mount into the fountain, where they splash and and preen for the day. At 5pm, the procedure reverses and the ducks ceremoniously return to their penthouse palace.

The peabody hotel has some really famous ducks that live on top of the hotel in what is called thier "palace" Every day at 11am the ducks come down on the elevator to walk a red carpet to the fountain where they spend the day and then at 5pm they head back upstairs via the red carpet again. It is really cute and a must see.