| "body"> | | | | many "firsts" in the history of radio. He was the first |
| Robert Ripley's life was an unbelievable adventure. For | | | | person to broadcast from ship to shore, the first to |
| 35 years he explored the uncanny and witnessed the | | | | broadcast from Australia to America, and the first to |
| amazing. His Believe It or Not! cartoon teemed with | | | | broadcast around the world simultaneously using a |
| incredible - but proven - phenomena every day. Called | | | | corps of translators. He interviewed a handler of |
| a liar more often than any man who ever lived, Ripley | | | | poisonous snakes from a snake pit in Florida and a |
| never failed to establish the truth of every assertion. | | | | daredevil skydiver in Georgia while falling 12,000 feet |
| He was a world traveler who visited more than 200 | | | | before opening his parachute. He went behind Niagara |
| countries seeing places few people had even heard | | | | Falls and to the bottom of a shark tank. |
| of, from the tombs of the Ming Emperors in China, to a | | | | He went underground in the Carlsbad Caverns, down |
| town called Hell in Norway! | | | | the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, and he even |
| Ripley was an artist, a reporter, an explorer, and a | | | | dragged his staff and equipment to the North Pole! He |
| collector. The stories he gathered, illustrated by Ripley | | | | interviewed accident survivors, baseball legends, |
| himself, would later appear in his popular newspaper | | | | politicians, and on one Christmas Eve he even |
| cartoon feature Believe It or Not! Today the venerable | | | | interviewed a man named Santa Claus and a woman |
| cartoons are still enjoyed by millions of readers | | | | named Merry Christmas! |
| worldwide. | | | | In 1938 on perhaps his most memorable show, he |
| Wherever Ripley went, he searched for the odd and | | | | described for his listeners the dramatic, live |
| the unusual. In his quest, he documented the customs | | | | performance of one Kuda Bux, an Indian firewalker. A |
| and beliefs of many ancient and exotic modern | | | | 20-foot ditch was dug in a parking lot outside Radio |
| civilizations. Whenever possible he brought home | | | | City in New York and filled with fiery coals. |
| artifacts from his journeys, which today form the heart | | | | Twenty-four hours later with the temperature inside |
| of the greatest collection of oddities ever assembled. | | | | the pit at 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, Kuda Bux walked |
| Today these artifacts can be seen in Ripley's Believe It | | | | across the pit not once, but twice! When examined by |
| or Not! museums around the world. Every year millions | | | | Ripley and a team of doctors it was found that Bux |
| of people visit these museums to take part in an | | | | had absolutely no injuries. |
| adventure, one in which they experience first hand the | | | | During other broadcasts Ripley recalled his adventures |
| incredible world of Robert Ripley! | | | | in exotic lands and the curious people he encountered. |
| The Ripley story begins on Christmas Day 1890 when | | | | His radio show, which started as a weekly show but |
| Robert Leroy Ripley was born in Santa Rosa, Calif. A | | | | at times was aired nightly, was one of the most |
| talented, self-taught artist, Ripley sold his first drawing | | | | popular radio shows of all time and was on the air for |
| to Life magazine when he was only 18. Ripley was | | | | 14 consecutive years (1930-1944). |
| also a natural athlete, and his first love was baseball. | | | | World War II changed the world of radio and ushered |
| He played semi-pro ball for several years, but his | | | | in the age of television. Ripley, always a risk-taking |
| dream of pitching in the Big Leagues was shattered | | | | pioneer, was up to the challenges of the exciting new |
| when he broke his arm during a New York Giants | | | | medium. In 1948 he created a television pilot based on |
| spring training game. After the accident, Ripley was | | | | one of his most popular radio shows, the story of |
| forced to take his art more serious; his hobby would | | | | Grimaldi the melancholy clown. The pilot was a great |
| become his occupation and his life work. He worked | | | | success and led in 1949 to Ripley being given one of |
| first for newspapers in San Francisco but left for the | | | | the very first regularly scheduled weekly television |
| bright lights of New York City during the winter of 1912. | | | | series. |
| The Birth of an American Axiom | | | | The show featured Ripley interviewing celebrities and |
| On a slow day in December 1918, while working as a | | | | subjects of Believe It or Not! cartoons. It also showed |
| sports cartoonist for the New York Globe, Ripley | | | | him drawing his cartoons and discussing his favorite |
| created his first collection of odd facts and feats. The | | | | unusual artifacts. Some segments were filmed in his |
| sketches, based on unusual athletic achievements, | | | | palatial BION Island mansion and others were filmed in |
| were initially entitled "Champs and Chumps," but after | | | | his downtown Manhattan studio apartment. The grind |
| much deliberation, Ripley changed the title to Believe It | | | | of a weekly TV show soon took its toll, however, and |
| or Not! The cartoon was an enormous instant | | | | Ripley had a heart attack on air during Episode 13. He |
| success. The rest is history and the phrase Believe It | | | | died in a hospital three days later. Ironically his last |
| or Not! is used by just about everyone - just about | | | | broadcast concerned the origins of the military death |
| every day. | | | | song "Taps." |
| Starting in 1914 with a trip to Belgium and France, travel | | | | The show continued after his death with guest MCs |
| became Ripley's lifelong obsession. During his career | | | | for two full seasons. Believe It or Not! has returned to |
| he visited 201 countries, circumnavigating the globe | | | | television in three different formats since, including the |
| twice, and traveling a total distance equal to 18 | | | | latest incarnation beginning in January 2000 starring |
| complete trips around the world. | | | | Dean Cain and Kelly Packard, a series that ran for |
| In 1922-23 he traveled to the Orient, crossing through | | | | four seasons and produced 88 different episodes. |
| Japan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and India. He | | | | Ripley the Collector |
| wrote about what he saw and experienced, and his | | | | Ripley was married briefly early in his career to a |
| "diary" was published back home in syndicated daily | | | | Ziegfeld Follies girl, but by the 1930s he was living up to |
| installments. | | | | his reputation as America's most eligible bachelor, a |
| Ripley felt particularly drawn to China. He found | | | | man about town who thrived on activity and relished all |
| Chinese culture to be fascinating, and he adopted | | | | things strange. His personality in many ways was as |
| many Chinese customs. For most of his life he | | | | unusual as the stories and objects he collected. |
| preferred to entertain dressed in Chinese robes and | | | | A colleague once said that "the most curious object in |
| he typically served his guests elaborate Chinese | | | | the [Ripley] collection is probably Mr. Ripley himself." He |
| feasts. At one point early in his career he signed his | | | | drew his cartoon every day between 7 a.m. and 11 |
| name "Rip Li" and later in his life he acquired an | | | | a.m. - often drawing it upside down! He dressed in |
| authentic Chinese junk, which he used as his pleasure | | | | mismatching bright colors and patterns (his best friend |
| craft and it became his home away from home. | | | | Bugs Baer once described his wardrobe as looking like |
| Ripley was nicknamed "the Modern Marco Polo" by | | | | a paint factory had exploded in his closet), wore bow |
| the Duke of Windsor and his travels took him to the | | | | ties and two-toned spat shoes. |
| four corners of the world. On one trip alone, he | | | | Ripley was a contradiction. He collected cars, but |
| crossed two continents and covered 24,000 miles - | | | | never learned to drive and though he regularly used |
| 15,000 miles by air, 8,000 miles by ship and more than | | | | complicated sound and recording equipment for his |
| 1,000 miles by camel, donkey and horse! | | | | broadcasts, associates noted that he was afraid to |
| 70 Years of Book Publishing | | | | use the telephone for fear he would be electrocuted! |
| Ripley's early cartoons, a collection of oddities found on | | | | He was a non-swimmer, but he lived on an island and |
| his journeys, were first published in book form by | | | | had an odd assortment of boats, including dugout |
| Simon & Schuster in 1929. Believe It or Not! by | | | | canoes from Panama, a gondola from Venice and an |
| Ripley, sold more than 500,000 copies and was on the | | | | authentic Chinese junk, that he named Mon Lei. |
| bestseller list for months; it would stay in print for nearly | | | | His museum-like homes, one in Florida and two in New |
| 40 years. Today, if all the Believe It or Not! books ever | | | | York, were filled with artifacts he brought back from |
| published - well over 100 titles - were stacked one | | | | his travels. At his palatial 34 room BION (Believe It or |
| upon another, the total number of books sold would be | | | | Not!) Island home in Mamaroneck, New York, there |
| more than 300 times as tall as New York City's | | | | were hundreds of Chinese statues and wall hangings, |
| Empire State Building! | | | | Indian totem poles, a huge collection of beer steins, |
| In 1929, after signing on as a syndicated cartoonist with | | | | weapons of torture from Germany, colossus Oriental |
| King Features, part of the William Randolph Hearst | | | | bronze guardian statues, a 20-foot pet python and |
| newspaper empire, Ripley's salary rocketed from | | | | even Cyclops, his beloved one-eyed dog. |
| $10,000 to $100,000 a year. A legend was born and | | | | The 1930s and 40s were the Golden Age of Ripley. |
| Ripley would soon become the first cartoonist to | | | | The phrases "Believe It or Not!" and "That's one for |
| make a million dollars a year. | | | | Rip" had become a part of everyday speech. In small |
| At the height of his popularity, the Believe It or Not! | | | | towns and big cities across North America people filled |
| feature was carried in more than 360 newspapers | | | | movie theaters and vaudeville halls to hear his lectures |
| around the world, was translated into 17 different | | | | and to see his films. Starting in 1931, Ripley created 23 |
| languages and had a daily readership of 80 million | | | | of the earliest sound movie shorts for Vitaphone |
| people! | | | | Pictures, later owned by RKO. |
| The response from his readers, many demanding | | | | Virtually self-educated, he was the author of three |
| proof of his unbelievable statements, was equally | | | | best selling books, the holder of three honorary PhD |
| incredible. One cartoon alone, published in 1927, in which | | | | titles from esteemed colleges, and a millionaire to boot! |
| Ripley stated that Charles Lindbergh was not the first | | | | The shy young man born of poor farmers in a small |
| man to cross the Atlantic by plane, drew 170,000 | | | | town in California had become a celebrated public |
| letters! This cartoon made Ripley so famous that | | | | figure - a rock star of his era. |
| postmen forwarded his mail even without a full | | | | In 1933 nearly two million people visited Ripley's first |
| address. Envelopes simply addressed, "To Rip" or "To | | | | "Odditorium" at the World's Fair in Chicago. Inside the |
| the World's Biggest Liar" were all delivered. One man | | | | museum were dozens of Ripley's famous cartoons |
| even sent a letter written in a microscopic code that | | | | and hundreds of strange artifacts from every corner |
| could only be deciphered with a magnifying glass. The | | | | of the globe, like human bone outfits from Tibet, |
| bizarre forms of addresses and the sheer volume of | | | | medieval chastity belts from Europe, and the featured |
| mail was enough for the U. S. Postmaster General to | | | | exhibit, an amazing life-size self-portrait of Japanese |
| issue a decree in 1930: "...mail to Ripley would not be | | | | artist Hananuma Masakichi who created his own |
| delivered if the address was incomplete or | | | | image for his fiancée after learning he was ill |
| indecipherable." The law had little effect, however; | | | | with tuberculosis. The sculpture, consisting of hundreds |
| "Rip-o-mania" was sweeping the world. | | | | of tiny interlocking pieces of wood so skillfully |
| A Ripley contest to find unbelievable stories that ran in | | | | dovetailed and joined as to avoid detection, is |
| more than 100 newspapers for two weeks in 1932 | | | | anatomically correct down to the smallest detail and |
| drew 1,750,000 entries. A decade later, a contest | | | | includes the artist's own hair and fingernails. |
| dedicated to the war effort brought in 19,712,213 | | | | Amongst the rarest curiosities in the collection of |
| responses! A survey conducted in 1936 found that | | | | unbelievable artifacts was a pair of shrunken heads |
| Ripley's cartoons were the most popular feature in | | | | from Ecuador, one of which Ripley received in the mail |
| any paper and had a greater readership than even | | | | with a note saying: |
| front-page news. Ripley himself was voted the most | | | | "Please take good care of this. I think it is one of my |
| popular man in America, above movie stars, sports | | | | relatives!" |
| figures and even President Roosevelt. | | | | What was once a common practice amongst the |
| Three linguistic experts and a dozen researchers | | | | Jivaro Indians of Ecuador, the shrinking of human |
| worked with painstaking precision to verify every | | | | heads was a ritual that had been handed down from |
| unbelievable fact. His huge collection of artifacts, most | | | | one generation to another. The heads of slain enemies |
| of which are still in Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums | | | | were valued as war trophies and symbols of bravery. |
| across the world, was assembled when he began | | | | When a fighter killed his enemy, the victim's head was |
| bringing items back from his extensive travels just to | | | | cut off. The skin was then peeled away from the skull |
| prove the authenticity of his bizarre and outlandish | | | | and hot stones and sand were poured into the cavity. |
| claims. | | | | The head was sewn shut and boiled in herbs until it |
| Ripley's fans included the rich, the poor, the famous | | | | shrunk to the size of a fist. It was then smoked over |
| and people of all ages. His most famous fan, however, | | | | an open fire to darken and harden it while ceremonial |
| was a man who made it his life's mission to try and | | | | dances, songs, and feasts were performed-often for |
| prove Ripley a liar! Wayne Harbour, a postal worker of | | | | as long as three days. |
| Bedford, Iowa, was an intrepid letter writer. For 26 | | | | In addition to artifacts, the first odditorium also featured |
| years he wrote letters to people featured in the | | | | a wide assortment of the strangest live performers |
| Believe It or Not! cartoon attempting to find factual | | | | ever gathered under one roof, characters like Alfred |
| errors. Believe it or not he wrote more than 22,000 | | | | Langevin who could blow up balloons with his eyes, |
| letters, but never received a single reply that | | | | Joe Laurello, "the Human Owl," who could twist his |
| contradicted one of Ripley's statements! Upon his | | | | head 180 degrees, and Sam Simpson who could put a |
| death, Harbour's widow donated his vast collection of | | | | baseball in his mouth and sing at the same time! |
| correspondence - more than 80 cartons - to the | | | | The first "odditorium" was such a success that |
| Ripley archives. Today Harbour's life work has been | | | | throughout the 1930s traveling trailer shows would |
| preserved and can be seen in Ripley museums around | | | | appear in Detroit, St. Louis and Washington D.C. and |
| the world. | | | | permanent shows would be the hits of world's fairs |
| Another famous Ripley fan, who would later settle in | | | | and expositions at San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland, San |
| Ripley's hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif., was the late | | | | Francisco and ultimately on Broadway in New York |
| Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown and the | | | | City in 1939. The first permanent Ripley museum |
| "Peanuts" cartoons. Charles Schulz's first | | | | opened in St. Augustine, Fla. in 1950, a year after Ripley |
| ever-published drawing, a sketch of a certain dog that | | | | died. |
| would later become famous as "Snoopy," appeared in | | | | When he died, thousands lined the streets of New |
| the Believe It or Not! cartoon panel of Feb. 22, 1937. | | | | York to watch as his body was sent by rail back to |
| The Broadcasting Pioneer | | | | his native California. But Ripley's legacy is still alive and |
| During the 1930s and 40s Ripley's stories of the odd | | | | well today in newspapers, books, museums, TV |
| and unusual entered millions of living rooms across | | | | shows, film, on the web AND in one of the most |
| America via radio. Ripley pioneered "on-location" | | | | popular and oft repeated phrases in the English |
| broadcasts from the strangest locales and performed | | | | language: Believe It or Not! |