All Her Ducks in a Row

Saturday afternoon  my friend and I came out of the theater where we’d just seen Philomena.   A young girl had lined up all of these rubber ducks on the edge of the table in the lobby.

She said she’d won them at the arcade, 6 for a dollar.   I asked if I could photograph them.

Looked up the origin of the saying “having ones ducks in a row”  found  several claims  at  Wise Geek

It is in the small details but might come from-

*duck pin bowling

*ducks flying in formation

*carnival game targets.

Ducks in a row

ducks in a rowGrainy phone photo but you get the idea

and here is how much a family of four spent at the concession stand at the movies today.

cash register

So thinking about the cost of popcorn at the movies and why it seems so much….. why yes, there’s actually a book written by an economics professor (Richard McKenzie)  on this topic   Here’s the ABC News Story on Why Does Theater Popcorn Cost So Much  by Nick Watt on Nightline- says- Americans eat a billion pounds of popcorn a year!  

(and it is a 1300% markup at the theater)

13 thoughts on “All Her Ducks in a Row

  1. Great photo of the ducks, Ruth. I’ve not seen that particular news item but I have seen reports of the ridiculous mark-up of popcorn at the theaters. The owners have a captive audience and take full advantage of it.

  2. These are not your mother’s rubber ducks – and I like ’em! But I will admit that I balked at the concession total; I would much rather get a fancy meal than a tub of popcorn for that kind of cash! (Can you tell I only go to the movies once a year?)

  3. She has quite the cute duck collection. 🙂
    As for popcorn at the cinema – I have always thought it is expensive as that is where they make the most money I think. It does taste good but we normally share one box between the four of us.

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