- Many people writing to Ripley included their own drawings in the hopes that he would be inspired to use their ideas for a Ripley's Believe It or Not!®. In 1937, young Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was first published when he sent in a cartoon about his dog Sparky's ability to eat pins, tacks, screws and razor blades. Sparky served as the model for Schulz's world-famous cartoon character, Snoopy.
- The Ripley collection includes 20,000 artifacts, 10,000 photos and more than 130,000 cartoon panels.
- During his broadcasting career, Ripley celebrated many "firsts." He was the first to broadcast on a nationwide network from mid-ocean, the first to broadcast from Buenos Aires to New York and the first to broadcast to every nation in the world simultaneously, assisted by a corps of linguists who translated his message.
- Ripley drew all his cartoons upside-down.
- Ripley received more mail than any other individual in history-more than 3,500 letters per day, over one million per year. During a Ripley's contest, he received more than 2.5 million letters in just two weeks.
- Wayne Harbour of Bedford, Iowa, was obsessed with proving that Ripley was a liar. For 26 years, this postmaster wrote a letter a day challenging at least one of the claims in the daily cartoon. As of 1970, he had written 22,708 letters to people highlighted in the cartoon. He never received a single contradiction to the claims Ripley made. His letters are now part of the Ripley's collection.
- Ripley visited 201 countries during his career, traveling a distance equal to 18 complete trips around the world.
- Ripley's prized possession was a sculpture of Japanese artist Hananuma Masakichi. The life-size, life-like self-sculpted statue incorporated Masakichi's own hair, fingernails and toenails to make it appear more real. Ripley kept the statue in a special curtained area of his bedroom.
- Ripley owned one of the largest and most expensive collections of automobiles in the world, but he never learned to drive.
- A memorial to Ripley stands in his hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif., in a church built entirely from one redwood tree.
- Ripley is buried in Santa Rosa's Odd Fellows Cemetery.
SONY PICTURES
Edward is the Ripley's archivist in Florida.
Here, he talks about some of his interesting favorite memories of how some exhibits came to light.
- I've received over 100 shrunken heads over the years, but only one by surprise-in the mail. I bought two from a "walk-in" to our office. He was carrying them in a brown paper lunch bag!
- After searching high and low for ten years, I found a copy of the Lord's Prayer engraved on a pinhead. It was a totally flukish fund, made while I was doing an inventory of a collection of miniature coin paintings on a freezing cold snowy day in Seattle, Washington.
- After paying $100.00 each for 20 intricately carved toothpicks, I received a phone call from customs broker informing me they had just cleared a box from customs, but all it had in it was toothpicks. I had visions of him using one of my precious toothpicks to clean his teeth.
- We once discovered a stuffed albino moose head in a funky nindown bar in Cochran, Canada. We offered to buy the whole bar, because we wanted the moose so bad, but we were unsuccessful in making a deal. Many years later, the owner phoned me out of the blue and we bought it. It's now in our museum in Branson, Missouri.
The world of Ripley's is vast, elaborate machine. There are researchers, curators, archivists and model-makers as well as editors and correspondents who compile article and write for the Ripley's Believe it or Not! Books. Dedicated and passionate about what they do, these people never tire in their mission to uncover and preserve the unbelievable side of life.
Across the world, 31 museums showcase the Ripley's collection. On display are unforgettable exhibits supplied by the huge central archive that is kept in the vast storage warehouse at Ripley's headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Across the world, 31 museums showcase the Ripley's collection. On display are unforgettable exhibits supplied by the huge central archive that is kept in the vast storage warehouse at Ripley's headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
This is also were all of the wax work sculptures of extraordinary people, past and present are conceived and lovingly brought to life.
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