DATE VISITED: 06/06/2015
SITE: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum
LOCATION: 3326 MO-76, Branson, Taney Co., Missouri
PERSONAL
REFLECTIONS:
It had been many years since Dirk last visited the Ripley’s
Museum and I never have so we decided to play tourist.
I want to give a quick shout out to Branson. They know how to
take care of their locals. Most places we’ve been to have offered a discount of
some sort for the locals. Sometimes it’s been just Dirk but a lot have
discounted tickets for both of us. It’s just nice to see businesses in a city that
depends so much on the people who serve the community give back to the individuals.
Ripley’s is quite frankly, a different version of the circus freak
show. The oddities of humans, whether themselves or what they produce are the
show here. Ripley’s themselves call the exhibit of their collection..”the
odditorium”.
A quick biography of LeRoy Robert Ripley….
- 1890…born in Santa Rosa, CA…about two hours from where I live.
- 1909…worked as an artist for the San Francisco Chronicle
- 1908…sells first cartoon to Life Magazine
- 1913…played semi-pro ball for the New York Giants baseball
team
- 1914…first trip to Europe
- 1918…published a feature called “Champs and Chumps” the precursor
to “Believe It Or Not”
- 1919…married a Ziegfeld Follies dancer, but divorces not too long after
- 1922…first exploration tour around the world
- 1926…New York handball champion
- 1929…first “Believe It Or Not” book published
- 1930…starts in radio broadcasting
- 1933…first “odditorium” at the Chicago World’s Fair. Visited
by over 2 million people
- 1936…voted most popular man in America
- 1949…first “Believe It Or Not” TV show
- 1949…Ripley dies...there seems to be a disagreement on the death. The
Ripley’s website says he died during his 13th TV show. Had an
on stage heart
attack while discussing the military funeral hymn “Taps”. Wikipedia says he
fell ill during the show and died days later. The Biography website says he
fell unconscious at his desk and died days later. Vanity Fair says he was
taping his 13th show…about Taps…went to his desk, fell unconscious
and died days later. I like this last one…it has pieces of all the others.
- 1949…all of Ripley’s collection is sold off. One collector in
New York purchases most of it and the name of Ripley’s goes on.
- 1950…first permanent odditorium in Florida
“I have traveled 201 countries and the strangest thing I’ve
seen is MAN”….Robert Ripley
I believe that when a person takes pictures, they show a bit
of themselves in the subjects they’ve chosen. That being said, when you look at
the pictures I took, it’s just slightly possible that I might be thought of as
odd. Me? No way!
What follows are the few things that I found interesting
enough to take pictures of….
 |
| Transformers..."robots in disguise" |
 |
| Dirk & Ironman |
 |
| Spirit face |
 |
| Largest roll of toilet paper |
 |
| Holding the present & past together |
 |
| Vampire Killing Kit |
 |
| Shrunken Head |
 |
| Drum made from skulls |
 |
| Butterflies |
 |
| More butterflies |
 |
| This was my view up standing next to the tallest man |
 |
| My hand next to the largest known hand |
 |
| Fattest man...no, i wasn't going to stand in the picture |
 |
| Ok, everyone...get the jokes out of your system |
 |
| Called the human unicorn |
 |
| I think his chest says it all? |
 |
| I think she qualifies as freaks friend |
 |
| All made from Jade |
 |
| But this is the detail |
 |
| There's this made from ivory |
No comments:
Post a Comment