Five Ducks Have Their Own Red-Carpet Entrance at a Luxury Hotel. 🦆🎩
At The Peabody Memphis, the daily VIP procession isn’t led by celebrities or dignitaries.
It’s led by five mallard ducks.
Every day at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., one drake and four hens leave their rooftop Duck Palace, ride down to the lobby, and make their way along a red carpet to the hotel’s marble fountain.
The tradition began in 1933, when Peabody manager Frank Schutt and his friend Chip Barwick returned from an Arkansas hunting trip and placed live duck decoys in the lobby fountain as a prank.
Guests loved it.
Then, in 1940, former circus animal trainer Edward Pembroke taught the ducks how to march and became the hotel’s first Duckmaster. He held the unusual title for more than 50 years.
Today, the five North American mallards spend their day swimming in the fountain before marching back upstairs at 5 p.m.
And when they’re off duty?
They have their own $200,000 Royal Duck Palace on the hotel’s rooftop, complete with marble, glass, a fountain, and even a miniature replica of The Peabody. 🏨🦆
What started as a hunting-trip prank in 1933 became one of the most unusual and beloved hotel traditions in America—still delighting visitors more than nine decades later.
Some hotels have a red carpet for celebrities. The Peabody has one for ducks. 🦆❤️
