Milwaukee's Gertie the duck

Gertie the duck, immortalized in a children's story

As spring arrived in 1945, World War II was taking its toll on the American people. Exhausted from too many stories about the deaths of its brave youth, the horrors of concentration camps, and the death of President Roosevelt, America needed a diversion, no matter how trivial, as a sign of hope.

Enter Gertie the Mallard.

In Milwaukee, on April 27th, bridge tenders noticed a mother mallard nesting on the bridge pilings of the Wisconsin Avenue bridge. The Milwaukee Journal immediately sent a reporter and photographer who submitted daily reports until the eggs hatched.

Soon reporters from the Associated Press and United Press International joined in, reporting the story of the incubation to an interested nation. Life magazine featured Gertie in their June 18th issue. Even a London paper printed a front page story on the event.

As far as the city itself, they cared for Gertie and her eggs like any expectant family would: the city's superintendent of bridges postponed an $1800 piling replacement job; street car conductors would stop their cars by the bridge, run out to check on the bird, then report back to their passengers that Gertie was OK; hundreds of Milwaukeeans sent cards and poem's to Gertie on Mother's Day.

When a careless smoker set fire to the nest, the Humane Society stationed a guard near the nest. The city pumped clean lake water into the river to clear away an oil slick that threatened the health of the new borne ducklings. When a huge storm washed the ducks into the river, the bridge tender rescued them with a long pole and net.

During a victory parade celebrating the end of the war in Europe, the bands all stopped playing as they approached the nest and tip-toed across the bridge.

It soon became evident that the nesting site was too small to contain five rambunctious ducklings (when Black Bill fell in the river, women on the bridge cried) and the Humane Society relocated the family to an empty display window in Gimbel's department store, complete with proper climate control and around the clock nurses. Eventually the family was relocated to Juneau Park on Lake Michigan. The ducks rode in a fire engine while a marching band played to the crowds that lined the streets.

It is estimated that nearly three million people came to view Gertie and her ducklings, Black Bill, Dee Dee, Freddie, Millie, Pee Wee, and Rosie.

A children's book was written in 1959. "Gertie the Duck" by Nick Georgiady and Louis Romano, who had been stationed overseas and read about the account in the "Stars and Stripes," the armed forces newspaper.

Every year at the Eileen Tway Children's Literature Conference the "Silver Gertie Award" was presented to individuals for outstanding contributions to children and literature.

In 1963, Jack Webb presented Gertie's story on an episode of CBS's "General Electric True" television show.

In 1997, the city of Milwaukee dedicated the first of several bronze statues dedicated to Gertie and her brood.

For 37 days in the spring of 1945, a small duck and her family offered America, and Milwaukee, a much needed distraction from the war and a reminder of just how precious life is.