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If you have ever visited our office or stopped by Amtelco’s booth at a conference, chances are you’ve noticed duck-themed socks, shirts, and collectible rubber ducks. The association between rubber duckies and a leading-edge software company may leave Amtelco newcomers a little confused. So, in today’s blog post, we want to tell the story of how a duck became Amtelco’s official unofficial mascot.
Long before a duck became an iconic part of Amtelco’s brand, our feathered friend joined the team completely by chance. Decades ago, when we were operating out of our Monona Drive location in Madison, WI, a pair of Mallard ducks decided that the patch of green right outside the front window of our building was the perfect spot to nest.
Even after Amtelco moved its headquarters to our current location in McFarland, WI, the ducks seemed to find us, and returned each year to become a part of the daily workplace routine in the springtime. Mr. Bill Curtin, II, Amtelco’s co-founder, took particular delight in seeing the ducks each year, and he began calling his team of employees the “Amtelco Ducks,” named after our annual guests. It wasn’t long before the Amtelco Ducks became a fixture of company culture and identity. Today, internal emails sent between departments or from leadership often open with the greeting, “Hello Fellow Amtelco Ducks!”
The transition from actual wildlife to a company emblem happened at the workbench. Phil, one of our circuit board designers at the time, is credited with capturing the spirit of the Amtelco Ducks and creating the first duck images. Using a bit of creativity and a soldering iron, Phil began adding hand-drawn duck cartoons directly onto Amtelco circuit boards.
From those initial comic strip-like scenes, the duck’s design began to evolve. His first official incarnation was styled after a classic, mid-century collegiate mascot—wearing a 1920s-style turtleneck sweater with plenty of vintage personality. Over the years, he took on new personas, including a heroic “Super Duck” illustration that proudly hung in our production area for years.
Eventually, as our brand modernized, we needed a clean, popular, and versatile image. A few years ago, Amtelco’s marketing department developed the simplified duck icon we use today.
Ducks are symbolic of adaptability, as they can transition from water to land and even take to the air. This ease of movement led to ducks being seen as having a spiritual link between the physical world and the unseen realm in Celtic lore. Modern-day quotes encourage us to “be like a duck—calm on the surface, but paddling furiously underneath.”
Amtelco’s duck mascot reflects the growth of our company over the years. The scrappy, tenacious, fighting duck, establishing its presence and working to make groundbreaking products for the telecommunications industry, has been polished over the past five decades. Our rough duck mascot has transformed into a sleek, confident, buoyant duck who smoothly and expertly navigates both rough and calm waters.
