The historic hotel where ducks live in the lobby
By Caroline Gladstone
What does it take to be a Duckmaster: walk with a waddle, have a commanding demeanour, an affinity with feathered friends?
All these would seem perfect - then you can add a loud voice and a good memory for a script.
The Peabody Hotel's lobby, home to five mallard ducks.
The Peabody, in Memphis, Tennessee, long known as the "South's grand hotel" has no doubt pondered those attributes for the past 88 years, as long as it has staged the famous "March of the Peabody Ducks" in its lobby.
While the hotel has hosted thousands of guests, from every sitting US president since Harry Truman, to Frank Sinatra and Katy Perry, those who have needed the most care - nay most direction - are the five Mallard ducks that frolic in the lobby's travertine fountain for most of the day.
Rolling out the red carpet for the March of the Peabody Ducks.
I learn that the ability to wrangle is probably the number one requirement when I accompany Duckmaster Brittany, attired in a red coat and carrying a cane, to collect the stars from their rooftop home, the Duck Palace. She artfully guides her charges across the open rooftop, into the elevator and down 13 floors and into the lobby for their walk along the red carpet to the strains of King Cotton March. The ability to quickly clean up after them – stage fright does get the better of some – is also a must.
Brittany became the first woman to take on the role when she was promoted from cocktail waitress two years ago. She had big shoes to fill; the first Duckmaster, Edward Pembroke, was a former Ringling Bros. Circus animal trainer and did duck duty for 50 years.
Anyone who's been to Memphis has likely joined the throng trying to grab a seat in the lobby or the mezzanine level to watch the ducks' arrival at 11am and then their fluffy exit from the fountain at 5pm.
Kids sit at the edge of the red carpet and on some afternoons when a parent has booked the hotel's "duck package" their child will become the duck master's assistant and – this is the best bit – get to keep the duck-topped gold cane.
Like grand old hotels of yesteryear, the Peabody lobby is a village in itself. Some catch the show from a bar stool, others have lunch in the deli, shop for cool clothes and rock'n'roll gear at Lansky Bros (who outfitted Elvis in the 1950s), settle in with a cocktail as the pianist tickles the ivories or have their tarot cards read.
Those who want a history tour of the hotel, which opened in 1869 and moved to its current location on Union Avenue in 1925, can join a daily tour led by one of the handful of duckmasters who take turns at the role.
The Duckmaster’s cane.
Otherwise, glimpses of history can be had by peeking into the lavish Continental ballroom where Elvis attended his high school senior prom and checking out the old-style telephone booths and the shoeshine room. When open, visitors can view memorabilia in a room where cabinets brim with celebrity photos and keepsakes.
It's certainly a fun, buzzing place today but just a few decades ago the hotel faced demolition.
Following the assassination in 1968 of Martin Luther King just a few blocks away at the Lorraine Motel, the city's downtown area quickly lost its appeal.
Memphians deserted it for the safety of the suburbs while the Peabody limped along with a sprinkling of guests and little money for repairs until the last of a succession of owners, an Alabama investment company, declared bankruptcy in 1975.
But the hotel was saved after real estate developer Jack Belz bought it from his father-in-law for $400,000. He'd bought it a few days earlier at public auction on the steps of the county courthouse.
Jack and his wife, Marilyn, had a soft spot for the hotel, having held their wedding reception in the grand ballroom 27 years earlier. Neither could bear to see it torn down and turned into a parking lot, one idea mooted for the grand old place.
Six years and $25 million later, the Peabody reopened on September 1, 1981, and three generations of Belz (including Jack, now 94) work in the family business.
Today's hotel has had several refurbishments but retains its timeless glamour. The soaring lobby topped with chandeliers and wooden beams can accommodate all comers as can the grand restaurants and casual eateries that branch off from this "village" square.
The recently reopened dining salon, Chez Phillipe, is a touch of French whimsey in a city dedicated to Elvis and blues music - Beale Street is just a 200-metre stroll away. Bedecked with marble columns and murals of people at a masked ball (who are in fact the Belz family including Jack Belz's parents, his wife and their children), this is a special night out experience and a high-tea venue.
Other dining options are an Italian restaurant, the deli for sandwiches and duck-shaped chocolate treats and a weekend brunch where you can feast on crawdads, shrimp, grits and other Southern specialities.
The open-air rooftop is the place to be in summer with parties on Thursday nights with bands and DJs where folks can dance under the old-style Peabody sign – this night is said to be Memphis' best pick-up joint - and sunset social drinks on weekends. You have to wonder what the ducks, just a few hundred metres away in the Duck Palace, make of it all.
When it's time to retire the Peabody offers that old-world luxury, that isn't too fussy. Its recently-refurbished 464 rooms and suites have huge beds with mahogany bedheads, sofas, big TVs, comfy armchairs and a bathroom of Carrara marble tiles, quartz vanities and deep bathtubs – and - there's duck-shaped soap.
Do they milk the duck motifs at the Peabody? Sure, but it's fun.
As to the mallards, after a year's duty at the Peabody they are sent to an Arkansas farm where after a little rural R&R are released into the wild.
THE DETAILS
STAY
Rooms start from $US239 ($350) a night. Packages that can include extras such as “movie credits” and popcorn, or a bottle of Peabody signature Jack Daniels are often good value compared to a nightly rate. The hotel is dog friendly. See peabodymemphis.com
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The writer was a guest of Memphis Tourism, Hawaii Airlines - hawaiianairlines.com.au; and American Queen Voyages aqvoyages.com.au
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