Charlotte Lee and her rubber ducks have waddled their way into the record books.
With over 5,631 rubber ducks to her name (and counting!), the Seattle, Washington, USA, native has achieved the record title for the largest collection of rubber ducks.
The 54-year-old first began collecting rubber ducks in 1996, as a way to decorate her bathroom, which was a little drab.
Although Charlotte had collected clip-on koalas, shells, stamps, and bottle caps in the past, nothing really stuck until the rubber ducks came along.
“I thought I would quit after I had seven but then friends would come over and see them,” she said.
Soon, I was getting them as gifts for my birthday, Christmas, whenever really!
Charlotte felt that a rubber duck collection would be fun and whimsical and that they would add a nice balance to her serious job doing research and teaching.
“Someone made a meme out of a photo of me in a bathtub full of rubber ducks that riffs off of one of Snoop Dogg’s famous songs,” she said.
“The meme says, ‘I didn’t choose the duck life, the duck life chose me.’”
Once Charlotte had collected 13 rubber ducks, she decided she had already begun to build an actual collection and felt she should keep on going.
Charlotte says her collection really took off when she first met other rubber duck collectors and realized how many different kinds there were.
“The more I learned about rubber ducks, the more I wanted to see and learn about different kinds,” she said.
They come in different shapes, colours, and sizes. Ducks from different eras and countries have different styles.
Charlotte says that although they’re technically toys, they have a historical meaning as well.
She finds them in every kind of store imaginable.
Anywhere that might sell baby toys, dog toys, simple decorations or household tools might have rubber ducks or rubber ducks attached to gadgets.
Charlotte says tons of places sell souvenir rubber ducks or rubber duck keychains with logos printed on them.
Sometimes there might even be a special mould like a rubber duck holding local items or shaped like a famous sculpture or building.
“I also have a whole army of friends and acquaintances to help me find ducks all over the world,” she said.
I get texts and photos at all hours of the day asking me if I have a particular duck.
Charlotte even puts the word out and lets people know when she is looking for a rare or limited-edition rubber duck!
Her rubber ducks are so important to her, they have their own room in her home.
There are tall bookshelves with glass fronts all the way around where there isn’t a door.
Charlotte says it’s difficult to organize them because the most remarkable thing about each duck isn’t necessarily the same.
She organizes them according to whether or not they’re vintage, by country or continent or origin, by material, and by theme.
She also says they need to be kept cool and away from light when possible.
The key is not to let the rubber ducks get wet, and to make sure and dry them when they do get wet so mould and mildew don’t grow on the plastic.
“The ducks made out of actual rubber do not last very long,” said Charlotte.
Most rubber ducks are made out of plastic and some last very well and others harden and turn to dust.
Sadly, Charlotte says she has run out of room in her rubber duck room because they take up much more space than you’d think.
There are plenty of ducks now stored in boxes in her attic and garage.
In fact, Charlotte owns so many rubber ducks that at one point she used to have databases but couldn’t keep up with them.
“So now all I have are photos of the duck room,” she said.
“Hopefully someday I can get some help with organizing them better.”
Charlotte has some rubber ducks in her collection that are, as far as she knows, the only ones still existing.
She also has some sub-collections that are more complete than what any other rubber duck collector has.
“That said, I don’t think any rubber duck has ever sold for more than a few hundred dollars,” said Charlotte.
Still, it’s a lot for something made for children to chew on and throw around!
Charlotte enjoys seeing the different reactions to her super-sized collection.
“Some people gasp and laugh with delight,” she said.
“Others are disturbed because they feel like all these ducks are looking at them!”
Her favourite reaction is when people’s eyes get really big, and they turn around to take it all in.
Charlotte says it’s fun when people demonstrate that they are seeing a spectacle because, for her, it can sometimes easily become just a room she walks through when doing her laundry.
Currently, Charlotte is in search of a large Dietrich Rempel upright sailor duck in a blue uniform that is about 18” high.
“It’s so big that the makers had to mould it in two pieces and then join it together with a metal joint in the neck,” she said.
I have a damaged one, but I’ve been looking for one in good condition for two decades now!
Although Charlotte doesn’t exactly know the combined total worth of her rubber duck collection, she says it’s priceless because it’s the largest rubber duck collection in the world.
She eventually hopes to find a museum to take the collection so that the public will have access to her “big, silly, and cheer-bringing collection.”
Charlotte is proud of her Guinness World Records title and says she would have never dreamed as a child that she would get a record title and that she would hold it for 20 years.
She urges those wanting to begin their own collection to develop a sense of what they truly like and to focus on that.
“If you really want to get into rubber duck collecting, think ahead to how you are going to store and display them so that they last,” she said.
“The more you plan to keep, the more you should invest in your display setup.
If you only have twelve it’s easy to care for. But if you plan on having a few hundred or more, trust me you are not going to want to have to dust those all the time!
Want more? Follow us on Google News and across our social media channels to stay up-to-date with all things Guinness World Records! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Snapchat Discover.
Don't forget to check out our videos on YouTube and become part of our group chat by following the Guinness World Records WhatsApp channel.
Still not had enough? Click here to buy our latest book, filled to the brim with stories about our amazing record breakers.
Related Articles
