Corrie's Hilda Ogden ducks up for sale

Post-blog note:
Although these ducks are listed on eBay as 'original' we have researched the item and can confirm they are not the original ones shown on Corrie. They were produced and sold as a marketing gift for the ITV Values of Fame campaign.Someone is selling Hilda Ogden's "original" ducks on eBay. 

The seller says this: "I have for sale the original Hilda Ogden Flying Ducks (Mallards) from the TV show Coronation Street, circa 1964-1987.

These were gifted to my mother in law by her boss Mr Nick Milligan, Managing Director of Sky Media at the time, who was sadly killed in a boating accident with his family. The ducks were sold at an ITV Charity auction with a reserve price of £2500.00 as can be seen from the photos. They are still in the original box from the auction addressed to Mr Nick Milligan at Sky Media.

The recent passing of Jean Alexander, the actress who portrayed Hilda for many years has reminded me that these are sitting in a box in the attic collecting dust, when they should be with a real fan or collector.
We have had these valued by an auction house so reserve the right to remove from sale should the reserve price not be met."

Current bids start at 99p and you can bid to win them here.

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Hilda Ogden's ducks turn up in a Nottingham pub

Coronation Street fan @PaulieBi on twitter has taken this picture, above. It's on the side of a pub called The Lincolnshire Poacher which is in Nottingham. 

I wonder if the pub landlord is a secret Corrie fan?

If you spot any Corrie art or fun items on your travels, do let us know and we'll include the best ones on the blog!

You might also like to see: Corrie A-Z: F is for Flying Ducks


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Corrie A-Z: F is for Flying Ducks

The pride and joy of No.13 resident Hilda Ogden were the flying ducks on her ‘muriel’. They have become Corrie icons as much as Hilda herself over the years. They appeared on Hilda’s wall from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. One of the ducks infamously would be seen diving into the sea on the mural, and apparently Jean Alexander, who played Hilda, would check this before filming.

 

The flying ducks did appear on the show before debuting on Hilda’s wall. Next-door neighbour Elsie Tanner had some on her wall and they were seen in the very first episode in 1960 as well as during the 1960s. But it seems that Hilda never bequeathed them from Elsie. In fact, she acquired them from her Auntie Aggie as she told Sally Webster in 1987. Flying ducks were common ornaments in homes across England at the time.

 

When Hilda left the street in 1987, she took her flying ducks with her. As she told Percy Sugden:

 

"I've come in here more times than I care to remember. Cold. Wet. Tired out. Not a penny in me purse. And seeing them ducks and that muriel... well they've kept me hand away from gas tap. And that's a fact."

 

The flying duck on a downward spiral has become a symbol of the bad luck the Ogdens often had as well as their house being number 13.

 

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New Corrie flying ducks for Christmas

Still looking for Christmas present ideas for the Coronation Street fan in your life, or fancy treating yourself to something nice? These retro flying ducks are a nod to Hilda Ogden's muriel and are available from Andrew Tanner Ceramics.

You can view them here and they're also available in all kinds of other colours including black and pink on the website too.

Paint Your Own Flying Ducks

Hawkins Bazaar have these wonderful Paint Your Own Flying Ducks for sale, just in time for Christmas.  So, make like Hilda Ogden on Coronation Street and pin them to your muriel once your ducks are done.

Ducks and paint included. £13.00 for three ducks.

Buy them online here.

Lucky winners announced in our Corrie flying ducks competition

Ten lucky blog readers have won a set of iconic Coronation Street flying ducks in the latest competition here on the blog.  We had a phenomenal response, so thank you to everyone who entered!

Ten winners have been chosen at random and they are as follows: Karen Ferry, Greg Robertson, Paul Coffell, Mary Gaughan, Marie Harley, Barbara Ward, Karol Bullard, Elfie Warren, Barry Nicol and Darren Fitzgerald.  The ducks will be flying out to you all, tomorrow.

The answers to the questions we asked in the competition are as follows:

Q1: In Coronation Street, who put up Hilda Ogden's muriel?
A: Eddie Yeats

Q2: What is the name of this recliner chair, pictured on the left, which is available on the Harveys the Furniture Store website?
A: Santiago

With huge thanks to the lovely people at Harveys the Furniture Store for this competition. Don't forget to check out the special competition on the Harveys website where you can win a day on the Coronation Street set. Have a look at it here.

Get your flying ducks jumper right here

I'm no fashion guru but even I can see that there's something to put a smile on your face about this jumper, even if you might not want to wear it.  

However, if you would like to wear it, then this homage to Hilda's Coronation Street ducks jumper, can be bought online here.

Paint your own Hilda's flying ducks

The fab Retro to Go blog has brought us various kinds of flying ducks before, similar to those Hilda Ogden once had on her wall. And now you can buy flying ducks that you can paint yourself. Find out more here.

Want more Hilda Ogden-style ducks? Have a look at these:

Ducks with added bling
ITV official ducks
Ducks with coat hooks
Whole flock of ducks

Mystery duck spotted in Coronation Street

Now then, ignore if you will the light that is shining out of Craig Charles' head and look to the right of this picture. There's a little yellow duck... see it?

It says here that the duck is the famous Hastings duck (never heard of it? me neither) who for 15 years has been a special guest in hotels owned by a Northern Ireland company. A spokeswoman for Hastings said she had “no idea” how the cunning duck had infiltrated the Corrie set but admitted it's also found its way onto rival soap Emmerdale in the past too.

Want to read more about ducks on Coronation Street? Click here.

Buy Hilda Ogden's ducks with a bit of bling

Blinged-up versions of Hilda Ogden's Coronation Street ducks are up for sale here. There are gold ones, silver ones, pink ones, and good old Hilda-style ones.

To buy ITV's official Corrie flying ducks, have a look here. And there's retro ducks here.