The surprising origin of the phrase, ‘get your ducks in a row’
June 6, 2024
The surprising origin of the phrase, ‘get your ducks in a row'
A Museum Minute
By Olivia Weitz
Wyoming Public Media
June 6, 2024
A 1-minute audio snapshot highlighting a museum object from the collection of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Danny Michael, the Robert W. Woodruff Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, says the phrase “get your ducks in a row” is linked to one of the largest firearms in the museum’s collection: a punt gun.
These guns were too heavy to carry, so duck hunters mounted them on shallow boats and tried to get as many birds as they could with one shot.
“You really want to line up all of your ducks, all of your waterfowl, and get all of them in a row, and that makes a really pithy expression for how this whole thing operated,” he said.
Michael says these guns weren’t around for very long because of the perception that they were leading to overhunting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“They become very quickly restricted and banned in most jurisdictions that had any kind of governance around hunting laws,” he said.
While it’s still legal to own a punt gun, they haven’t been allowed for hunting in the U.S. since 1918 due to the Migratory Bird Treaty.
Written By
Olivia Weitz
Olivia Weitz is a Multimedia Journalist for Wyoming Public Radio. She works out of a recording studio inside the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. She covers Yellowstone National Park, wildlife, and arts and culture throughout the region. She produces the “Museum Minute” series, which features objects from the Center of the West’s collections.
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