Petunia - #0014

DuckDex Entry #0014: Petunia 🌸 

DuckDex Number: #0014

Museum Name: Petunia

Original Product Name: Not yet documented

Brand: Bath & Body Works

Object Type: Rubber duck

Colors: Cream/ivory with pink, blue, yellow-green, and orange floral decoration; orange beak

Date: Undetermined

Acquisition: Purchased by Nichole

Museum Collection: Bath & Body Works Collection 

🌸 Captain Quackers' Curator Notes

"Petunia certainly isn't shy about making an entrance. Her cream-colored body is covered with bright flowers in pink, blue, yellow-green, and orange, finished with an orange beak and dramatic eyelashes. But underneath all those flowers are some of the most useful clues she carries: the Bath & Body Works name, country-of-manufacture information, bilingual markings, and a mysterious '04/10' molded into her base.

We can document every one of those details. What we can't yet do is assume what they all mean. We don't know what Bath & Body Works originally called her, when she was sold, who manufactured her, or whether '04/10' represents a date at all. Until more evidence appears, Petunia gives the museum something just as valuable as an answer—a well-marked surviving artifact with plenty of questions left to investigate."

🧳 Adventure Log

📍 Current Home: The American Rubber Duck Museum Collection

🛍️ Collection: Bath & Body Works

🌸 Known For: Multicolored floral decoration on a cream-colored body

🌼 Special Talent: Bringing flower power to the flock wherever she goes

🦆 Mission: Help document patterned designs and molded markings among surviving Bath & Body Works ducks

📅 Adventure Status: Preserved for future museum display

🏛️ Museum Label

Petunia
Bath & Body Works Collection
DuckDex Entry #0014

This cream-colored duck covered with multicolored flowers is a surviving example of Bath & Body Works' rubber duck merchandise. Molded Bath & Body Works markings establish its brand attribution, while markings on the underside identify China as its country of manufacture.

Petunia's floral decoration provides another example of the varied surface treatments found among surviving Bath & Body Works ducks. Her original product name, release date, manufacturer/vendor, retail price, and specific retail or promotional context remain under investigation.

Petunia is a museum-assigned name.

💝 Provenance

Brand/Marking: Bath & Body Works

Manufacturer: Not yet identified

Country of Manufacture: China (object marked “Made in China / Fait en Chine”)

Additional Marking: “All Ages / Pour Tout Âges” 

Molded Code/Marking: “04/10”

Additional Molded Markings: [Transcribe any additional numbers/letters exactly as they appear]

Acquisition Source: Purchased by Nichole

Acquisition Date: [if known]

Story Connection: Nichole added Petunia to the museum as part of her effort to document the variety of surviving Bath & Body Works rubber ducks. Her floral decoration distinguishes her from the solid-color, pearlescent, glitter-filled, and polka-dot examples already represented in the collection. Her comparatively extensive underside markings also make her useful for the museum's ongoing effort to understand the coding and production information found on surviving Bath & Body Works ducks.

No original packaging, hangtag, receipt, or documented prior ownership history accompanied the object.

🌸 Conservation Notes

Petunia is in good condition, retaining a glossy cream-colored body, orange beak, legible facial details, and substantial surviving floral decoration.

Minor wear is visible in portions of the applied floral graphics, including areas of loss or abrasion affecting some flower centers and petals. Slight surface discoloration or toning may also be present.

Abrasive cleaning, solvents, polishing compounds, and repainting should be avoided. Existing wear to the floral decoration should be documented and preserved rather than cosmetically restored.

🔎 Research Notes

🟩 Confirmed: Bath & Body Works attribution is established by molded markings on the surviving object.

🟩 Confirmed: The object is marked “Made in China / Fait en Chine.”

🟩 Confirmed: The object carries an “All Ages / Pour Tout Âges” marking.

🟩 Confirmed: The surviving object has a cream/ivory body decorated with multicolored floral motifs.

🟩 Confirmed: A molded “04/10” marking is present on the underside.

🟨 Not yet established: Meaning of the “04/10” marking. It should not currently be interpreted as April 2010 without independent evidence establishing the coding convention.

🟨 Not yet established: Whether Petunia's floral design belonged to an officially defined series, seasonal grouping, or coordinated group of variants.

🟨 Not yet established: Original product name, release date, manufacturer/vendor, original retail price, or specific promotional context.

🟨 Documentation frequency: Petunia's exact floral design has not yet been well documented in the museum's research, but this does not establish rarity.

🌸 Why Captain Quackers Loves This Duck

Every duck has a story...

"Petunia isn't shy about making an entrance. Those eyelashes! Those flowers! That orange beak! But underneath all that fabulousness is something I love even more—a collection of clues.

We still don't know what Bath & Body Works originally called her or when she appeared. And that's part of what makes her exciting. Every marking underneath her, every surviving flower, and every catalog, photograph, advertisement, or other duck we uncover could bring us one quack closer to understanding her story.

Until then, she's Petunia—and she's blooming beautifully in the flock."

🌸 Captain Quackers
Chief Curator & Adventure Officer

🦆 Every Duck Has a Story...

"...and Petunia reminds us that even after the flowers fade, the stories they carry can still bloom again." 🌸