Talk:Big Duck

Needs citation

The Big Duck was last owned by noted artists Kia and Pouran Eshghi who saved the building by donating it to the County of Suffolk. The Eshghi Family, Lance Mallamo and Richard Martin of Suffolk County Historical Society, and Jerry Kessler of Friends Of Long Island Heritage all played an integral role toward preservation by getting The Big Duck landmark status through the National Register of Historic Places. Friends for Long Island's Heritage took the initiative to save this important landmark by negotiating the gift agreement on behalf of Suffolk County and then paying the $50,000 to restore the Big Duck when it was relocated to Sears Bellows Park in 1988. The building houses a gift shop operated by the Friends for Long Island Heritage.

The whole thing needs a source, let's see it please, and then we can add this back in! :) IvoShandor 10:26, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Regarding the "duck's" architectural noteworthiness, Robert Venturi was actually against the duck typology, preferring it's opposition the "decorated shed." The duck was the symbol of what NOT to do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.48.133.58 (talk) 15:33, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Not sure what the photos of the "idyllic dock ponds" really have to do with this building or why it's helpful to display these photos in this section. Seems superfluous and confusing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-43204-68 (talk) 12:54, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

Big Duck's location

In the article about the Big Duck, in Flanders, Long Island, it is stated that...

The duck was returned to its original location in on October 6, 2007; nonetheless it is still called the "Flanders duck" for the intermediate location.

This original location, according to the article, would be on Main Street in Riverhead. However, having just passed it today, I can assure you that it is still on Route 24 in Flanders.

24.184.124.94 (talk) 01:23, 24 July 2011 (UTC)Barb

Yeah, the return downtown is unreferenced and improbable. The duck certainly has sat in Flanders for at least the past couple years. My guess is, even though a date for the alleged return is supplied, it's simply not true. We can wait a few days for someone to dig up an explanation with reference, and if not then delete it. Jim.henderson (talk) 11:50, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

DYK ideas

... that duck farming on Long Island got a boost from a big duck ? RoySmith (talk) 17:11, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Chiswick Chap please add your own ideas. RoySmith (talk) 17:12, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

I'd have thought the Tufte thing about (big) ducks being useless in information design might be more interesting, but DYK has gone very earnest about being straight straight straight which makes me think they've forgotten what a hook is, actually. Good luck with it. Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:01, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Hey man im josh talk 18:53, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

( Comment or view )

( Article history links:

• Big Duck
• Domestic duck

)

The Big Duck

• ... that duck farming on Long Island got a boost from a big duck (pictured)?

• Source: "The building was ... intended as a farm shop as well as for publicity" / https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/14colli.html

• • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Teri Ore
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Dan Erlewine
  • Comment: This has incubated a long time. I started Big Duck in 2006 and finally got around to getting it up to GA standards. By coincidence, I saw that Chiswick Chap had just put Domestic duck up for review. We reviewed each other's GA noms, which as far as I can tell from WP:DYKRR is not a problem.

Improved to Good Article status by RoySmith (talk) and Chiswick Chap (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 39 past nominations.

RoySmith (talk) 18:43, 4 July 2024 (UTC).

• Hah, the Big Duck image looks great. Yeah, I think the round-robin with the reviewing is fine here. Great articles all around; both are eligible and high-quality. Source checks out, as do both QPQs. Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 02:34, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
  • Not to be the pedantic spoilsport, but "got a boost" is too vague of a claim to be definitively true or false. Hook can definitely be salvaged by mentioning how it got a boost, so this probably won't hold up the nomination. Bremps... 11:38, 8 July 2024 (UTC)
    • ALT1: ... that a big duck (pictured) helped promote duck farming on Long Island'?
      RoySmith (talk) 14:19, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

Between the Lions?

Wasn't this building used in a segment on "Between the Lions"? Inkan1969 (talk) 19:03, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Peer review

Big Duck

Why a duck? Because it's been sitting in my queue long enough and wants to get its bronze star. The Big Duck is exactly what it sounds like: a 20 foot tall duck originally built by a duck farmer as a shop to sell his product. Because of this building, the word "duck" is now standard parlance in the architecture lexicon, referring to a building shaped like an everyday object. The duck may be large, but the article is not. Bucking the trend of FAs pushing 10,000 words, this weighs in at 1200, so you really don't have any excuse not to review it.

Thanks, RoySmith (talk) 13:32, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

Comments from Traumnovelle

'ferrocement style building'. Ferrocement is a material not a building/architectural style.

File:The Big Duck 1930s postcard.jpeg is probably out of copyright (PD-US-not-renewed or PD-US-no-notice) although some investigation is needed first.

'Duck farming had possibly started on the east end of Long Island in the early 19th century as a means for farmers to earn additional income.' this can be interpreted as duck farming may or may not have occurred in the early 19th century or that duck farming did occur and it may have occurred to help farmers supplement their income. Traumnovelle (talk) 01:40, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments. I've done some copyediting to address you first and third points. I'm not an expert on the various PD templates, but I'll see what I can figure out. RoySmith (talk) 10:13, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm going to close this PR early. In my latest research sprint, I've discovered a lot of excellent sources I hadn't previously found, so I expect there will be substantial changes to the article soon. I'll bring it back to PR for another look once I'm done with that. RoySmith (talk) 00:42, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Peer review

Big Duck

Previous peer review

Why a duck? Because it's been sitting in my queue long enough and wants to get its bronze star. The Big Duck is exactly what it sounds like: a 20 foot tall duck originally built by a duck farmer as a shop to sell his product. Because of this building, the word "duck" is now standard parlance in the architecture lexicon, referring to a building shaped like an everyday object. The duck may be large, but the article is not. Bucking the trend of FAs pushing 10,000 words, this weighs in at 1700, so you really don't have any excuse not to review it.

My apologies for withdrawing the first review so quickly (and thank you to Traumnovelle for their comments). I found some additional sources and had an epiphany about how I wanted to structure the article. The Legacy section has been significantly expanded and split into two sections. RoySmith (talk) 18:35, 23 April 2026 (UTC)

Comments from Mr Serjeant Buzfuz

Okay, "I catch ona why a horse", and this was a fun read, but I have some suggestions.

• novelty architecture is linked four times, once in infobox, once in lead, and twice in article. I don't think that many links are needed for a short article?

Unlinked all but one in the lead and one in the main text.

• the link is given twice as "novelty architecture" and twice as "memetic architecture"; that's a bit Easter Eggy; my preference would be to link only as "novelty architecture", with a comment "also known as memetic architecture"; I have a preference for simple English (especially for roadside attractions!); also, should use same term for the link in the infobox and in the article.

Done

• size of duck: 15 by 30 feet ; is that 15 wide by 30 long? I think so, but for us number-impaired folks, would be helpful to specify.

Hmmm, I think I'm going to leave that one alone. The compactness of the current version appeals to me.

• in sentence beginning "The regional industry expanded..." shouldn't it be "one million ducks" and "three million ducks"? See MOS:NUMERAL.

Yup, fixed.

• sentence with "Atlas Cement Company's promotional calendar that year..." I think "that year" means 1931, but since the most recent year you mention before that phrase is 1993, it sounds like it might have been 1993?

Fixed.

• Sentence that opens "It was claimed that...". In light of MOS:CLAIM, perhaps change to "Proponents of the move suggested that..."

Done

• after discussion of Rockefeller Centre tree lighting: "noting that the later tradition began in 1931" - I think you mean "latter tradition", because it predates the Big Duck lighting?

Yup, I mess this up often. Fixed.

• This sentence: "The building was the target of widespread criticism during the 1960s and early 1970s, but did have its defenders.[6]" I wonder if this sentence should be moved from "Popular reaction" to "Academic commentary": The Popular reaction section is more about the subsequent history of the Duck; this sentence would be a good lead-in to Academic commentary.

I've gone back and forth a few times on that exact point. Ultimately I ended up putting it where it is now partly to try to balance the lengths of those sections. Let me think on this a bit.

• this phrase: "with WBLI rating it first" How about saying "with radio station WBLI rating it first"? I had to click on WBLI to see what it was; thought it might be another architectural body or municipal association. (That may just be because I'm not from the eastern US, where I understand "WB" is a well-known radio call-sign; but heck, you want world-wide appeal for this article!)

I had radio station at one point, but trimmed that during a copyedit spree. I've put it back.

That's all. Fun article. I would bid up a hundred for you. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 20:19, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments. All good suggestions. RoySmith (talk) 21:09, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

Olliefant

• [Flanders], [New York] -> [Flanders, New York] per MOS:GEOLINK
  • Done
• "becoming a prized landmark" prized by who?
  • Dropped that from the lead; it's addressed in the body.
• "Los Angeles" -> "Los Angeles, California" on first mention
  • Meh. Right before that I talk about a trip to California, so I think it's OK as is.
• Note 1 needs a source
  • Even better, I dropped the note
• " but did have its defenders" can this be expanded on?
  • I think that's covered in the following paragraphs
• "any building that is shaped like its product is called a 'duck'."" any examples?
• Also I don't think the Newsday bit needs to be a quote and could easily be paraphrased
  • Looking again at that source, I think this is stated better (and cited to more solid sources) later on in the Academic commentary section, so I've dropped that from here.

That's what I found Olliefant (she/her) 20:24, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback. RoySmith (talk) 23:03, 27 April 2026 (UTC)