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Who dresses the ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ ducks?

“They come in after hours, and then magically, the new costumes arrive.”

In the cold, on the day after Christmas in 2021, people visit the Boston Public Garden and take in the colorfully dressed sculpture tribute to Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way For Ducklings.” Pat Greenhouse / The Boston Globe

By Lindsay Shachnow

September 17, 2024

A bronze sculpture of a mother mallard leading her eight ducklings — Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack — in a line has stood in the Boston Public Garden since 1987.

The duck family is often seen dressed in various outfits throughout the year, and there is even an annual Duckling Day Parade in the garden where hundreds of children dress up like the characters in the book. But despite the ducks’ widespread appeal, the duck dressers have managed to largely remain anonymous.

Jonathan Krygowski, 4, of Westford blows his whistle as he leads the Duckling Day Parade dressed as Michael from “Make Way for Ducklings,” May 13, 2018. *Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe*

The individuals dressing the ducks are shrouded in mystery, even to the sculpture’s creator, Nancy Schön.

“I think it’s a game that people are playing,” she told Boston.com. “They want to be mysterious.”

Schön said people put “enormous pride” in dressing the ducks in outfits that are “exquisitely made.”

“People love the ducks no matter whether they’re dressed or not dressed,” she said. “Everybody loves to sit on them. They love to play with them. They love to interact with them.”

The ducks dressed for Halloween in 2019. *John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe*

The sculpture is based on Massachusetts’ official children’s book, “Make Way for Ducklings,” written by Robert McCloskey, which follows a duck couple who raise their ducklings on an island in the lagoon of the Public Garden.

“The ducks are not mine, they are McCloskey’s,” Schön said. “He is responsible for how wonderful they are; I’m just a tool to make them three-dimensional.”

The inspiration for the book, the late McCloskey said, came from his own experience seeing ducks during his morning walk.

“I had first noticed the ducks when walking through the Boston Public Garden every morning on my way to art school,” McCloskey told The New York Times. “When I returned to Boston four years later, I noticed the traffic problem of the ducks and heard a few stories about them. The book just sort of developed from there.”

A Band-Aid placed on the wing of a duckling to signify a COVID-19 vaccine shot, June 3, 2021. *David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe*

Bonnets adorned the ducks on April 7, 2015. *Suzanne Kreiter / The Boston Globe*

The ducks wear the colors of the inclusive pride flag. June 20, 2020. *John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe*

Some people suspect the city’s Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for dressing the ducks, but Friends of the Public Garden President Liz Vizza shot down the speculation.

Only when Boston sports teams are in the playoffs does the City of Boston dress the ducks, she told Boston.com.

“Everything else … they are done by some secret society,” Vizza said. “It’s part of the delightful beauty of these sculptures.”

The ducks in Bruins’ garb, June 1, 2011. *Suzanne Kreiter / The Boston Globe*

Vizza said she suspects the unknown individuals dress the ducks early in the morning or late at night.

“They come in after hours, and then magically, the new costumes arrive,” she said.

Christina Pardy is one of those individuals.

Pardy, founder of Sh*t That I Knit, told Boston.com that she adorned the ducks with unicorn hats.

Christina Pardy dressed the ducks in unicorn hats. *Bret Clancy*

Pardy said she went out to place the hats on the ducks really early in the morning, making sure to run away before anyone saw her.

“I thought it was kind of fun just to go put them on and then sit back and watch people walk by,” Pardy, who has dressed the ducks several times, said. “It was fun to watch those interactions.”

As documented in Schön’s “Ducks on Parade!” photo book, the mallards have also been dressed as a response to political movements, including Black Lives Matter and women’s rights.

“I always marvel at the reflection of the moment, whether it’s political or cultural, or social,” Vizza said. “I think they really strike a chord in the public.”

The ducks have also been used to protest the treatment of migrants. A local artist put the ducks in cages in 2019 to illustrate the way the government handled some asylum seekers.

Local artist Karyn Alzayer put cages around the ducks to make a statement about the migrant crisis in 2019. *Courtesy of Karyn Alzayer*

“People use it as a way of expression,” Sue Ramin, who worked with Schön to publish the photo book, told Boston.com. “I don’t know any other sculpture in Boston that people interact with like that or any other sculpture anywhere.”