Swiss Inventions – Toilet Duck: When Swiss Ideas Make Waves
A duck for the toilet, a digger that can climb, and burrs that inspired fashion – Switzerland is full of ingenious inventions. The Stamp of the Month for September 2025 honors the Toilet Duck, a symbol of inventive spirit and humor. It shows that Swiss innovation has many faces – and that it’s not just about the Swiss Army Knife. The stamp is part of the “Swiss Inventions” series, through which Swiss Post has, since 2021, celebrated inventions proving that great ideas often start small – in garages, workshops, or everyday kitchens.
🦆 A Swiss Success Story from the Bathroom (2025)
In the 1950s, Maria Düring Keller from Dällikon developed a descaling solution called durgol to help support her family. Her son, Walter Düring Orlob, carried the idea forward, looking for a way to apply toilet cleaner precisely under the rim. The answer was as simple as it was ingenious: a bottle with a curved neck — shaped like a duck’s.
Together with his wife Vera Düring, who created the new cleaning formula, he launched Toilet Duck in 1980. The family business combined quality, humor, and smart patent protection — a formula that made the product famous worldwide. Today, the “WC Duck” stands as a symbol of Swiss ingenuity and the courage to take unconventional paths.
👉 The stamp “Swiss Inventions – Toilet Duck” was issued in 2025, continuing a series that in previous years has celebrated other remarkable Swiss creations.
🧄 Garlic Press – A Small Tool with a Big Impact (Stamp 2024)
The story of the garlic press begins in the late 1940s, when Karl Zysset (1907–1988) was running a bicycle shop in Lyss (Bern). Inspired by the principle of a bicycle handbrake, he began tinkering in 1948 with an idea for a tool to press garlic cloves. His first model featured a curved aluminum handle that felt similar to the brake levers of the time — with one key difference: instead of transmitting force through a cable, the pressure acted directly on the pressing mechanism.
To prevent the cloves from slipping out, Zysset designed a small funnel and a movable plunger that pushed the garlic cleanly through the perforated plate. In 1951, he gave up his bicycle business to found Zylyss — a name combining Zysset and Lyss. His goal: to bring technical innovation and good design into the kitchen.
The idea was a success. As early as 1952, his first model — the now legendary “Susi” — received the “Good Design” award from the Swiss Werkbund for its simplicity and excellent ergonomics. The basic principle remains almost unchanged to this day: larger funnels, better leverage, and easier cleaning. The latest version is still called Susi — why exactly, no one really knows; it remains a charming little mystery.
🪡 Velcro – Ingenious Grip Inspired by Nature (2023)
A chance observation in nature led to one of Switzerland’s most famous inventions. In the 1940s, Georges de Mestral, an engineer from the canton of Vaud, wondered why burrs clung so stubbornly to clothing and animal fur. Under the microscope, he discovered the secret — tiny hooks that latch onto fibers — and he transferred this principle to a completely new type of fastener. In 1951, he filed a patent for his invention, which was granted three years later:
Velcro was born – a simple yet revolutionary system of hooks and loops. The invention achieved worldwide fame in 1969, when it was used during the Moon landing: astronauts relied on Velcro fasteners for their spacesuits and the straps of their Omega “Moonwatch.”
The “Swiss Inventions – Velcro” stamp issued in 2023 highlights a more down-to-earth application — children’s shoes that can be fastened effortlessly thanks to this technology. A stylized burr on the stamp’s edge recalls its natural inspiration, and the souvenir sheet even features a real piece of Velcro – a tactile reminder of Swiss ingenuity.
🏔️ Barryvox – Lifesaver in the Snow (Stamp 2022)
The name Barryvox bridges tradition and technology. Barry was the legendary St. Bernard rescue dog from the hospice on the Great St. Bernard Pass, said to have saved more than 40 lives. His modern electronic successor is the Barryvox, an avalanche transceiver that has become an indispensable part of alpine safety equipment.
Since the 1970s, the device has been continually refined. A key contributor was Swiss electrical engineer and SAC tour leader Felix Meier, who played a major role in improving the technology. He not only advanced the development of the modern Barryvox S by Mammut but also championed an international standard: thanks to his efforts, all avalanche transceivers now operate on the same 457 kHz frequency – a milestone in mountain rescue.
The current Barryvox can detect multiple signals at once, with a range of up to 100 meters, allowing rescuers to locate buried victims in the shortest possible time — because in an avalanche, every minute counts.
The “Swiss Inventions – Barryvox” stamp depicts this Swiss innovation set against a striking winter mountain scene. A special shimmering snow effect on the souvenir sheet captures both the beauty and the danger of the high alpine environment — a fitting tribute to an invention that saves lives.
🚜 Menzi Muck – The Excavator with Spider Legs (2021)
Sometimes groundbreaking ideas emerge where no one expects them – even in civil engineering. In the 1960s, Ernst Menzi (1897–1984) from the Rhine Valley had the courage to completely rethink how an excavator could work. His goal was to build a machine that could operate reliably on steep slopes, in riverbeds, or on rough, uneven terrain. The result was the Menzi Muck, a so-called walking excavator, whose adjustable legs allow it to adapt to virtually any surface.
Instead of a rigid chassis, Menzi designed a flexible mechanism that lets the excavator move almost like a living creature – stable, powerful, and remarkably agile. With a touch of humor, he named his invention “Menzi Muck,” after the fairy-tale character Little Muck, known for cleverness and agility.
Since the first model in 1966, the Menzi Muck has been continuously refined. Today, in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, state-of-the-art machines are built and customized for every type of terrain – a true showcase of Swiss engineering excellence.
The “Swiss Inventions – Menzi Muck” stamp (2021) depicts the walking excavator at work in rocky terrain. A special granular lacquer gives the souvenir sheet a relief-like texture, making the rugged landscape both visible and tangible. With this issue, released in 2021, the “Swiss Inventions” series was launched – celebrating one remarkable Swiss idea each year since.
🔧 The Swiss Army Knife – The Most Famous Innovation, but Not Part of the Series
Although it is not part of the official “Swiss Inventions” stamp series, the Swiss Army Knife can’t be left out when speaking of great Swiss inventions — nor from Swiss stamps, as shown by the 2006 issue. Developed in 1891 by Karl Elsener, founder of Victorinox, it was the first true multifunctional pocket tool, combining a blade, screwdriver, can opener, and awl.
Its popularity made it a global symbol of Swiss quality and reliability. From soldiers to adventurers and even astronauts, the Swiss Army Knife remains both a practical companion and a design icon. It embodies the same values found in all Swiss innovations: functionality, precision, and the courage to keep things simple.
And so, with a wink and a touch of national pride, the current series — likely concluding with the Toilet Duck — reminds us: “It’s not just the Swiss Army Knife – it’s a country full of brilliant ideas.”
Swiss Inventions – Toilet Duck
- Country: Switzerland
- Date of issue: September 4, 2025
- Size: 105 × 70 mm
- Colors: Multicolor
- Designer: Jürg Glauser
- Printer: Gutenberg AG (Liechtenstein)
- Format: Souvenir sheet
- Type of issue: Commemorative
- Perforation: 11¾
- Printing process: Offset lithography
- Gum: Matte
- Face value: 250 Rp. (Swiss centime)
Sources: colnect.com; https://www.post.ch