Milwaukee's Menagerie: Gertie the Duck
Have you ever crossed the Wisconsin Avenue bridge and gone ‘Wait, why is there a four foot duck statue here?’ Well wonder no longer, person who has never Googled that question! That bronze quacker is no less than Gertie the Duck. Yes, you heard that correctly. THE Gertie the Duck!
Oh, I suppose if you actually knew who Gertie the Duck was, you wouldn’t be wondering about her statue. Gertie the Duck is very possibly the most famous waterfowl ever to come out of the Brew City, and one of the most famous oddities of Milwaukee (yes, even more famous than our great Milverine). Gertie could not lay golden eggs, nor could she predict world cup winners or the length of winter. Gertie instead was just a lady duck who happened to nest in the pilings off the side of the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge (on the opposite side of where her statue now stands).
Milwaukee went absolutely nuts over it. Library board member and local historian John Gurda pinpoints the idea that given the general mood of the waning days of World War 2, combined with the sombre event of FDR's recent death, there was a definite need for a feel-good story for the people of Milwaukee. They found on in Gertie, and I seriously don’t think I can overstate how much of a phenomenal impact this simple duck who laid her eggs on a rotting bridge piling had on Milwaukee and beyond.
The first news coverage began on April 28th, 1945, with, of all things, an article entitled ‘Mallard Sets an Eggs-Ample in a ‘Penthouse’ 10 Feet Up’. Gertie didn’t have a name yet, but you could already tell that people were in love with her. Someone had thrown an orange into the nest to bother the duck, and John Stich, a Milwaukee bridge operator, is quoted as saying ‘Let me catch anybody molesting that nest and it’s into the river with him!’
Things took a turn into the ridiculous when during this period fell Mother’s Day on May 11. You see, people not only sent this duck Mother’s Day cards, but gifts of diapers. Let that sink in for a moment. People so loved this plucky duck, they were sending the mother-to-be gifts of an item she couldn’t possibly use, during war time. Gertie eventually successfully hatched six little ducklings, moved temporarily into a Gimbels display window (because it turned out that keeping a nest in a piling ten feet up wasn’t a great idea for baby ducklings), before eventually being released into the Juneau Park lagoon.
Gertie would end up immortalized not only in the beautiful bronze statue that continues to stand on the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, but in song by Milwaukee Artist (and former library employee!) Brett Kemnitz, as well as two books: Gertie the Duck by Nicholas P. Georgiady, and Betty the Duck Who Dared to be Different by Hugh Murphy.
If this weren’t a written blogpost, this is where we’d insert the sound of a record scratch, in no small part because you’re probably now scratching your head and going ‘Wait, who’s Betty?’ The answer to that question lies within the age-old rivalry between two organizations: The Milwaukee Journal, and the Milwaukee Sentinel. You see, it was the Journal that coined the name ‘Gertie’ for this intrepid mother duck, while the Sentinel called her ‘Mrs. Francis Drake’, with the first name of Betty. Even the department store Gimbels would get in on the name confusion, attempting to co-opt Gertie as their own property by calling her ‘Gimbel Gertie’ and using her as a store mascot in a marketing ploy.
Even beyond those two books (available at a library near you!), Gertie also has a claim to fame that few Milwaukeeans, fowl or human, can claim: she was name-dropped by a US Congressman, during a session of Congress. You see, a magazine printed an article that tried to sully the good name of Milwaukee for being overrun by the Polish and being shaped vaguely like a stomach and for having gone completely mad over a duck. Such offense did Clement J. Zablocki take, that he made a point to dissect and refute that article and its publication right on the very floor of Congress, putting Gertie forever in the annals of the Congressional Record.
So that’s the story of Gertie, who these days is possibly the second most famous bronze statue in downtown Milwaukee (curse you, Henry Winkler!). Next week, we’ll take a look into a less cute and heartwarming tale as we delve into the darker side of Milwaukee’s Menagerie. Next week, it’s Greely the Killer, the most dastardly polar bear to ever set paw in Milwaukee.