Research & Collaboration
Preserving the evidence—and the stories—behind the rubber duck.
Embedded Files
The American Rubber Duck Museum works with archives, libraries, museums, manufacturers, designers, researchers, collectors, former employees, families, and others to document and preserve rubber-duck history.
Research collaboration may include locating archival records, identifying objects, documenting company histories, sharing scans or photographs, conducting oral histories, preserving provenance, and connecting the museum with people who hold firsthand knowledge.
Have research materials or expertise to share? Contact the Museum
Want to see the research in action? Visit the Museum Research Desk
What We Research
What We Research
Origins & Manufacturing
Origins & Manufacturing
Early rubber toys, materials, patents, manufacturing processes, factories, and technological developments.
Companies & Brands
Companies & Brands
The histories of manufacturers and brands that have produced rubber ducks and related squeak toys.
Designers & Creators
Designers & Creators
The artists, sculptors, inventors, designers, and other people responsible for creating them.
Advertising & Promotion
Advertising & Promotion
Rubber ducks used in advertising, promotional campaigns, corporate giveaways, tourism, and branded merchandise.
Collecting & Commerce
Collecting & Commerce
The development of the rubber duck as a collectible, including limited editions, licensed characters, and specialty designs.
Popular Culture
Popular Culture
Rubber ducks in television, film, music, art, sports, charitable causes, internet culture, and everyday life.
Our Research Standards
Our Research Standards
Historical research is rarely as simple as finding a date or identifying a manufacturer. Records can conflict, company archives can disappear, objects may be unmarked, and stories can change as they are retold.
The American Rubber Duck Museum is committed to documenting what the evidence supports while being transparent about what remains uncertain.
Document the Source
Document the Source
Whenever possible, information is connected to its original source, including catalogs, advertisements, patents, packaging, company records, contemporary publications, photographs, objects, and firsthand accounts.
Preserve Provenance
Preserve Provenance
We document where objects and historical materials came from and preserve information about their creators, owners, donors, and institutional sources when known.
Separate Fact from Interpretation
Separate Fact from Interpretation
Verified information, museum interpretation, and provisional identification are treated differently. When evidence is incomplete, uncertainty is preserved rather than replaced with assumption.
Credit the People Behind the History
Credit the People Behind the History
Researchers, archives, companies, collectors, designers, employees, donors, and others who contribute knowledge or materials are credited whenever appropriate.
Help Build the Historical Record
Help Build the Historical Record
Some of the most valuable evidence of rubber-duck history may still be sitting in company files, family photographs, old catalogs, employee collections, attics, basements, or personal memories.
The museum welcomes opportunities to document materials including:
Historical catalogs and product lists
Packaging and advertisements
Original artwork, design sketches and product-development records
Prototypes and production samples
Factory and production photographs
Press releases, company publications and correspondence
Employee photographs, memories and oral histories
Information about unidentified or undocumented ducks
Stories from designers, manufacturers, retailers and collectors
You do not need to donate an original object or document to contribute to the museum's research. In many cases, information, scans, photographs, identification assistance, or an oral-history conversation can help preserve an important piece of the historical record.
Sharing Materials with the Museum
Sharing Materials with the Museum
Sharing material for research does not automatically grant the museum permission to publish or reproduce it.
Research access and public reproduction are treated separately. When appropriate, the museum will work with contributors to establish how materials may be used, how they should be credited, and whether any restrictions apply.
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS & COLLABORATORS
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS & COLLABORATORS
Rubber-duck history is a collaborative project. The American Rubber Duck Museum gratefully recognizes organizations and individuals who have contributed information, archival research, historical materials, expertise, interviews, or other assistance to the museum's ongoing research.
Recognition acknowledges assistance with the museum's ongoing research and does not imply sponsorship, endorsement, affiliation, or formal partnership unless specifically stated.
Organizations & Institutions
Organizations & Institutions
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Archival research assistance
Provided exhibition-catalog research documenting sculptor Peter/Pierre Ganine's participation in Southern California exhibitions from 1935–1944.
Akron-Summit County Public Library — Special Collections
Archival research assistance
Assisted with historical newspaper research related to Dietrich Rempel, Rempel Manufacturing, and Akron's rubber-toy industry.
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Collection research
Assisted with research into surviving historical film footage documenting Rempel employees and toy manufacturing.
Barberton Public Library — Local History Room
Local-history research
Searched its Sun Rubber Company holdings and identified photographs, employee scrapbooks, newspaper materials, product-related records, and a historical printing plate depicting rubber ducks.
History of Advertising Trust
Advertising archive research
Provided production information and additional archival leads related to historical advertising featuring rubber ducks, including the 1980s Band-Aid “Rubber Duck” television commercial.
Talbot Historical Society
Historical & photographic research
Assisted with research related to Eleanor Shannahan and surviving historical materials, including locating a collection photograph and pursuing additional information through family connections.
Researchers, Makers & Industry Voices
Researchers, Makers & Industry Voices
David Lieberth — Akron History Center
Research & industry history
Shared historical research and materials related to Seiberling Latex and Akron's rubber-toy industry, drawing upon decades of personal research and collecting.
Judy Fuerst — Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum
Exhibit research & collecting history
Shared information and photographs from the museum's CelebriDucks exhibit, historical context about the collection, and exhibit-development insights.
INTERESTED IN COLLABORATING?
INTERESTED IN COLLABORATING?
Whether you represent an archive, museum, company, research institution, historical society, manufacturer, or simply have specialized knowledge of rubber-duck history, we'd be glad to hear from you.
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