Rubber Duckie is Ernie's toy duck and most treasured possession. Ernie has expressed his fondness for his duckie in several songs, most famously "Rubber Duckie", but the duck has also figured in "Put Down the Duckie," "D-U-C-K-I-E," "Do De Rubber Duck", and "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree". In Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Ernie trades Rubber Duckie to Mr. Hooper in order to get a present for Bert for Christmas.
On the show, Rubber Duckie is "played" by a toy duck originally manufactured by the now-defunct company Alan-Jay Plastics, Inc. Sold under the name "Waddles", the duckies were initially painted white, with orange highlights on the wings, feet, neck, and top feathers; its bill was dark orange. This version was used by Ernie in several early segments, as well as on the cover of the Ernie's Hits album. Eventually it was replaced by a more vibrant, solid yellow duckie, which retained the orange beak.
In storybooks, Rubber Duckie is sometimes pictured as being more of a pet than a toy; he often has eyes that seem to focus, as if he were more-or-less alive. For example, in the 2002 book Look and Find Elmo, Rubber Duckie is visited by dozens of his "duckie friends", who play with him in Ernie's bathtub. His friends include Grubby Duckie, Lucky Duckie and Duckleberry Swim. Rubber Duckie's anthropomorphization goes as far back as 1977, when Joe Mathieu drew him in a state of fear in The Sesame Street Mix or Match Storybook.
