Wonder and Weirdness

With summer winding down, it seemed like a good time to share this piece with you. Like most kids, I started reading the newspaper by reading the comic section. My favorites included Peanuts, Blondie and Lil’ Abner. As I got older, Mark Trail became a favorite with his outdoor exploits and adventures. Then came Ripley’s Believe It or Not! It was supposedly all true, but some of the things talked about and shown were hard to believe.

I guess that’s why it always seemed so interesting. Regardless, it was always something to talk about with my buddies. Shrunken heads, the world’s tallest man, the heaviest man, torture chairs and otherworldly weird phenomena were discussed, debated, denied and laughed at as we discussed the subject matter.

Ocean City, Maryland

I started going to Ocean City, Maryland, more commonly called “the beach,” in high school and college. Being three hours away, it was just far enough to feel like a real getaway but not too far for a struggling college student. Ocean City’s boardwalk is approximately a mile and a half long, with a myriad of shops, stores, restaurants, snack shops, bars, tattoo shops, jewelry stores and you name it. If it’s beach-related, you can find it there.

Towards the start of the boardwalk where the amusement park is, and next to Boog Powell’s famous BBQ and the Thrasher’s French fries — a famous Maryland institution — stands Ripley’s Believe It or Not! In 20 years, I had yet to step foot inside the famed museum.

New Life?

But things happen. You marry the girl you went to the beach with while in college, have a daughter, and start doing things you never thought you’d do before. I guess I’m at fault for passing on the genetics responsible for my daughter’s want/need to go to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! I admit I was always curious and tempted, but I never felt the need to pay to see the worldly weird stuff displayed there. But kids have a way of convincing you and we needed to go … NOW!

Let me tell you, it was well worth the admission price. My daughter, who was around 8 years old at the time, was taken by all the cool and different things there. I was rather amused and interested in many of the items myself. It was both educational and interesting. I felt like a kid myself with new subject matter to spew to anyone who wanted to listen, and maybe a few who did not.

Ripley History

The Ripley story starts with a small daily newspaper cartoon drawn by Robert Ripley in 1918. Popularity progressed with a radio show, followed by television, featuring odd acts from all over the world. In 1919, Ripley married Beatrice Roberts, a 14-year-old film actress 15 years his junior.

With the success of his newspaper column, he made his first trip around the world in 1922, publishing his travel journal in newspapers. Having always been fascinated with unusual and exotic locales and cultures, Ripley recorded the things he saw and experienced for his column.

Ripley claimed to be able to “prove every statement he made” because he worked with professional fact researcher Norbert Pearlroth, who assembled Believe it or Not’s array of odd facts and verified the small-town claims submitted by readers.

Pearlroth spent 52 years as the feature’s researcher, finding and verifying unusual facts for Ripley. After Ripley’s death, Pearlroth continued his role for the King Features syndicate editors, who took over management of the Believe it or Not panel.

Ripley’s cartoon series was estimated to have 80 million readers worldwide, and he is said to have received more mail than the president of the United States. Dubbed the modern-day Marco Polo and once voted the most popular man in America, Robert Ripley’s legacy is 100 years old!

He became a wealthy man with homes in New York and Florida but always retained close ties to his hometown of Santa Rosa, California.

Planting Seeds

This year, Samantha came with us to the beach, only now she is 26 years old and starting her clinical year in veterinarian school. Her boyfriend, Aaron, also came along. Toward the end of the week, it started raining, making for a perfect day to visit the museum. It’s amazing how the memories made in years past take root, quickly becoming traditions. This is true of the restaurants we frequent, places we fish or cities we visit.

Needless to say, we had a blast! I think I had more fun than the kids, which is evident from the photos. There are currently 32 different Ripley’s Believe It or Not! locations scattered across North America, each with a different theme. The exhibits are changed every few years to keep things fresh.

I remember bringing Samantha with me to Idaho when she was 10 to visit Dick Thompson. We made a day trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where there was a Ripley’s Museum. Of course, she talked us into going.

While going through the museum, Dick sat on a bench next to a mannequin, staying statute still. He was waiting to fool a few kids looking around. As they approached him, they wondered if he was real. About that time, Dick would “hi” to them, causing them to practically jump out of their sneakers before laughter ensued. If you get a chance to check one out, the museums are a fun place to visit that will make a lot of good memories for you.

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