Mention Memphis to many and they’ll ask if you’re going to see the ducks. Ducks, you say? What ducks? Well, the world-famous Peabody ducks, of course! It all started as a joke in 1933, when Frank Schutt, general manager of The Peabody hotel, and a friend of his, decided to put their live duck decoys into the lobby fountain. Apparently, the men had just a bit too much Jack Daniel’s — helping them to stay warm while hunting — when they came up with the plan. Lo and behold, the next morning, a crowd had gathered to see what is now considered one of the top three attractions in the city. In 1940, Edward Pembroke, who was a bellman at The Peabody and former Barnum & Bailey circus animal trainer, volunteered to train the ducks. He continued as The Peabody Duckmaster until 1991. Every day, the ducks — four hens and a drake — leave their “cushy” digs of their $200,000 Duck Palace on the rooftop, come down the elevator and march up the red carpet for a splashdown in the gorgeous lobby fountain. Hundreds gather — old and young alike — to watch the spectacle and to take photographs. The ducks swim around the fountain all day, and just before 5 p.m., the red carpet is rolled out again, a little staircase is placed against the fountain, and as soon as the music begins — John Philip Sousa’s “King Cotton March” — the well-trained ducks begin lining up and swimming around to exit.