The first Peabody Hotel was built on Main Street and Monroe, in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1869, and named in honor of George Peabody, for his contributions to the south. It hosted many important dignitaries of the time, including Andrew Johnson, William McKinley, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.The hotel closed in 1923 in preparation to move one block away, and the original building was demolished.
The current Peabody Hotel, on Union Avenue in Memphis, opened in 1925, is an Italian Renaissance structure designed by noted Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager, and nearly identical to the original hotel building. Since that time, the hotel has suffered several financial setbacks and ownership changes, but now stands on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the luxurious crown jewel of Memphis.
The Peabody, however, is probably best known for a custom dating back to the 1930s when Frank Schutt, General Manager at the time, and his friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. Legend says their overindulgent drinking led to a practical joke of placing some of their live decoy ducks, which was legal for hunters to use at that time, in the ornate hotel lobby fountain. The guest reaction was exuberantly enthusiastic, and it has since become a well-known tradition for five Mallard ducks, a drake and four hens, to frolic contentedly in the fountain all day. In 1940, a Bellman named Edward Pembroke volunteered to care for the ducks and was bestowed the position of “Duckmaster”. He taught the ducks to march into the hotel lobby, which started the famous Peabody Duck March.
Every day at 11:00 a.m., the Peabody Ducks are escorted from their luxurious penthouse home, on the Plantation Roof, to the lobby via elevator. The ducks, accompanied by the “King Cotton March” by John Philip Sousa, then proceed across a red carpet to the hotel fountain, where they spend the day, and are ceremoniously led back to their penthouse at 5:00 p.m. The ducks remain “wild” and hand feeding is prohibited to ensure their adjustment back to nature after about three months, when they are replaced by new ducks.
The position of “Duckmaster” at the Peabody Hotel requires an abundance of pomp and showmanship, and while it is the only position of its kind in the world, celebrities have assumed the role from time to time.
We showed up at 4:30 p.m. to secure a good vantage point, ordered libations, and settled in for the show, of which the actual duck march lasted maybe two minutes. Notwithstanding the revenue generating aspect it garners from the lobby bar, and a bit of a tongue-in-cheek attitude, if you happen to be in Memphis, this truly is one of the greatest shows on earth.