The Bicentennial Duck Pillow #1

Every museum collection includes a few of those "unclassifiable" artifacts. They often present us museum professionals with frustrations, challenges, and sometimes (as in this case) entertainment. One of ours at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum has been affectionately referred to as the "Quack." This red, white, and blue creation provided much speculation and giggles among interns over the years.

The White House Gift Unit card gave the odd, three-foot object a name - "The Bicentennial Duck Pillow #1." We see that it was sent to First Lady Betty Ford as a gift celebrating America's Bicentennial in 1976. The card did not offer much more. The object never made it through the Bicentennial Gift Unit, so those records came up dry.

We recently decided to run an inquiry on the "Quack" through our distinguished archivists at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, MI, and (eureka!) they found something. We have now reconciled the legacy documentation (or White House correspondence) with the artifact! Though, a full explanation for the piece is still illusive, at least we now have some background information.

What follows is the entertaining correspondence on The Bicentennial Duck Pillow. I particularly enjoyed this excerpt, "I make pillows, but they are probably unlike any pillow you've seen." Another highlight, "I do not believe form follows function. It would make a great whip. Hee- hee-." Note that delightful valediction of "Bicentennially Yours." Enjoy!