Gertie was no ordinary mallard; she was Milwaukee, WI's pride and feather from '45 to '51. Standing a whopping 4 feet tall and spreading her wings wide, Gertie's yarn's got more to it than just a duck's tale. It's a story of guts, gut feelings, and the charm of an unforgettable adventure. Grab a seat, and let's dive in. Gertie hatched an exciting tale herself, setting up a fowl turf war on a wooden pile near the Wisconsin Avenue bridge. By the grace of the goose, she laid nine eggs.
Six of those soon-to-be celeb ducklings hatched, and Gertie schooled her brood, protecting her youngsters till they sprouted their own feathers. The town went quackers over her spunk, and her story spread like wildfire, making headlines in Life Magazine, Daily Express, and even on the front page. The Gimbels department store windows became the catbird seat, pulling in duckloads of viewers. Did you know that those windows could hold up to 2 million duck fans?
Gillen, a local sculptor, immortalized the icon in bronze, and it was put up in September '97, with some minor tweaks to the original narrative. Gertie's yarn was immortalized across the pages of books and the small screen. The first book based on Gertie's tale was 'The Gertie Tale', published by the Milwaukee Journal in July '45. Milwaukee toymaker, Earl F. Wendt, even crafted a wooden toy bearing the famous fowl's name the same year. Today, Gertie still stands proudly on the northwest side of the Wisconsin Avenue bridge, overlooking the Milwaukee River, in downtown Milwaukee, WI.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata
Written by Friendly Jane
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