Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 231
December 18, 2019
Meet Santa Claus’s Scary Friends
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Christmas Monsters
Inspired by elements of various pagan figures in Europe, jolly old Santa Claus has a whole host of strange and scary friends across many diverse traditions. While Santa Claus rewards kids for behaving, most of these other holiday horrors serve to punish naughty children.
Belsnickel
A fur-clad bear of a man wearing grubby clothes, der Belsnickel hails from Switzerland and Germany but is celebrated among America’s Pennsylvania-Dutch as well. Belsnickel arrives unannounced during the winter, knocking on the windows with his trusty switch.
After corralling fleeing children together, he asks each one whether they have been naughty or nice. A straightforward confession of guilt earned them a swat on the knuckles, but a lie provoked his wrath. Once finished with the punishments, he gives them a small gift and then disappears.
The Christmas Woman
An alternative figure for Belsnickel is the Christmas woman. A haunting pale figure, she throws candy on the ground, and as children rush to pick it up, she swats their backs with a broom.
The Yule Cat
Originating as far back as the Middle Ages in Iceland, the Yule cat gobbles up people who haven’t gotten any new clothes before the New Year. This tradition has its roots in making sure the wool processing was done on time across the country, and that children behave well enough to get clothes for Christmas.
The Yule Cat is supposedly the pet of Gryla the giant, and stands as tall as buildings, allowing it to peer in windows to check that people are wearing new clothes.
Zwarte Piet
An increasingly controversial Christmas character, Zwarte Piet—also known as Black Peter—is a tag-along helper to the Netherland’s version of Santa. He helps Santa deliver presents, and is typically portrayed by people wearing blackface makeup.
Historians trace his origins to a devil tamed by Saint Nicholas, who would have been covered in ash and soot. Legend has it that Peter will drag naughty children away to Spain.
Krampus
Celebrated across the Alps, Krampus is perhaps Santa’s most popular counterpart. Krampus is a horned, goat-like devil who carries switches and a sack, scaring children into behaving. While Santa is spreading joy and cheer to children, Krampus is scaring those who landed on the naughty list.
If a flogging with his switches isn’t enough, he may even whisk them away to eat later.
Perchta
Also known as the Christmas witch, Perchta is a shape-changer who enforces a strict no-spinning rule during the holidays. If you were well-behaved, she might leave you a present, but if you went against any of the season’s traditions—such as eating something other than fish and gruel—she would stuff your stomach with straw.
CC Holger Schmitt
Source: Meet Santa Claus’s Scary Friends
The Trunkated Stories Behind White Elephant Gift Exchange
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A popular Christmas tradition amongst families, friends, and workplaces has become the White Elephant gift exchange—AKA Dirty Santa, Yankee Swap, or whatever else your festive bunch may call it. But before you head out to buy your $20 gag gift for this surprisingly intense game of swaps and steals, there are a few things you should know.
Gifts For The Naughty List
The legend of this gift-giving phenomenon can be traced back to an ancient practice from the kingdom of Siam—now, Thailand. As a token of his dissatisfaction,—yes, if you were on the “naughty list,” you still got a gift—the ruler presented his subjects with a rare albino elephant. You would think that such a grand gift would act as a gesture of appreciation, but its intent was actually quite the opposite.
In Thai and Buddhist cultures, these rare white elephants are said to have a sacred quality. So, why was presenting them as a gift treated as a punishment? Well, according to the story, those who received this special gift were inevitably unable to refuse it. And as an added rule of thumb, they were unable to put the sacred animals to work. This gift was both a gigantic burden—because hello, it’s a literal elephant—and also extremely expensive. The upkeep for one of these pinkish-colored giants was said to cause true financial ruin.
These parameters made the jumbo-sized gift both valuable and yet, completely useless. Sound like any gift you’ve ever returned home with?
Toung-Taloung And P.T. Barnum
Theory number two for the name of this game involves the circus impresario, Phineas T. Barnum. Of course, the odd nature of an albino elephant was an act right up Barnum’s alley. “Toung-Talong,” his infamous white elephant, traveled from Burma to England for its big debut at the Royal Zoological Gardens in London.
When Toung-Talong was finally revealed to the public, spectators were less than impressed. Expecting to see a milky-white, pure albino elephant, they were disappointed with its slightly-lighter greyish pink color, only a few hues lighter than a traditional African elephant. To no surprise, and sparing no expense, Barnum gave one last-ditch effort to ship Toung-Talong to the United States to join his circus.
Unfortunately, his American audience was also unimpressed with this hopeful-star. The much-anticipated reveal of the white elephant was a total let-down, making it a now-burdensome possession that cost Barnum a pretty penny. Seems like we’ve heard this story before.
Now the validity of these legend stories—like any—are up for debate and could very well just be fictional tales told over time. History of the Siamese monarchs would point to this story as being totally fake—mostly because owning an albino elephant at this time was an extremely incredible honor, so why would they give them away as cruel and unusual punishment to those they didn’t like?
And as for Barnum, maybe his ventures with Toung-Talong were a total flop—but, did the disappointment brought upon spectators by this pinkish elephant create the backbone of a tacky gift exchange?
Whether you choose to give in to the theories of the white elephant story, this spirited game is meant to be a fun way to give and receive useless and hilarious gag gifts surrounded by family, friends, and, apparently, those whom you are dissatisfied with. So, happy stealing, and may “number 1” go to your selfish cousin who ate the last piece of pie.
Source: The Trunkated Stories Behind White Elephant Gift Exchange
December 17, 2019
Monsters In America’s Woods – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 28
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Do dryads and tree spirits stalk the Appalachain mountains? Could the biblical Cain stalk the woods of Ohio?
This week on the Notcast, we go deep into the woods of North America to confront the menacing and unknown. Brent and Ryan talk to people with firsthand accounts of strange and frightening experiences and ask what it is that makes moments in forests frightening.
Is Quicksand Capable Of Swallowing People Whole?
For more weird news and strange stories, visit our homepage, and be sure to rate and share this episode of the Notcast!
Source: Monsters In America’s Woods – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 28
People Used To Tell Ghost Stories At Christmastime
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Have you ever wondered why the popular Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” has a line about telling “scary ghost stories?” Doesn’t this seem like some kind of mistake? Didn’t we just have a whole month of telling ghost stories in October?
Truly, this 1963 Christmas carol, which was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle and made famous by Andy Williams, is not mistaken. There is a long history involved in the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmastime, and while it is mostly lost in the United States, it’s something that’s been involved with the winter holiday season for a long, long time, perhaps longer than Christmas itself.
Scary Stories to Tell During Yule
As many people already know, a number of the most beloved Christmas traditions—yule logs, mistletoe, and even the Christmas tree itself—actually have their origins in pagan worship.
Yule was—and still is—the celebration of the winter solstice, which is the day of the year when it is darkest for the longest period of time. Because of its long, cold night, Yule was also considered by many to be the day when spirits and ghosts were most likely to be able to interact with the living. As such, the tradition of telling ghost stories during this time of the year might go all the way back to Yule itself, even before it was transformed into Christmas.
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Most of us know how these pagan traditions were reformulated to become Christmas traditions, but what’s funny is that Christmas itself wasn’t always the all-important holiday it is today. In fact, Oliver Cromwell, a 17th century Puritan and political leader, had particularly targeted Christmas during the height of his power as a time of frivolity and decadence that he felt needed to be eradicated from hardworking English society. By the mid-1800s, Christmas was a day during which most people worked, and the holiday wasn’t considered important enough to celebrate in most homes.
Enter Charles Dickens, who not only saw the way his society was more focused on the almighty dollar… er, pound… than on helping those less fortunate but also understood the eerie link between the Christmas holiday and the end of the year, which often causes people to muse about death and those they have lost. He merged these concepts together in order to create a tale about a miser named Ebenezer Scrooge who learns the error of living a life for personal and financial gain only after being visited by four specters on Christmas Eve. The 1863 novel A Christmas Carol was an instant classic, and as such, the celebration of Christmas became much more significant in European society.
This led to ghosts and their stories becoming a staple of Christmas traditions yet again, especially in England. By the time 1891 rolled around and humor writer Jerome K. Jerome published his collection of Christmas ghost stories, Told After Supper, it was a common custom. “Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve,” he wrote, “they start telling each other ghost stories.”
So… What Happened?
If you’re still wondering why so many other Christmas traditions carried over from the Victorian Era but this one didn’t, it actually might have to do with the rise in popularity of another holiday: Halloween.
When Scottish and Irish immigrants began coming to America, they attempted to bring their own customs, traditions, and holidays with them. One of these was Samhain, which eventually became what we know today as Halloween. The immigrant people of the time hoped to keep the focus of the day on their heritage, but the lure of demons, spirits, and thoughts of the afterlife became much more popular in mainstream culture, cementing Halloween as the time for ghost stories and possibly removing that custom from Christmas, which fell so soon after.
Petition for Christmas Ghost Stories to Thrive Again
Still, can we really hold Halloween completely responsible for pushing the creep out of Christmas? Are people really so fatigued by ghost stories in October that they can’t tell a few more on the most festive night of the year?
Christmas isn’t just a time of frivolity and merriment. Christmas Eve especially holds an eerie, nervous energy about it that even adults can feel. And on a cold night where everyone is drinking, staying up late, and thinking about the year gone by, don’t ghost stories seem like the absolute ideal addition to time spent by the fireside with your loved ones?
So, this Christmas Eve, we recommend families and friends alike tell ghost stories to one another as the evening grows dark and the weather outside grows frightful. And if someone has the audacity to tell you this isn’t the time of year for ghosts and goblins, remind them that Christmas is the perfect moment to get a little chilling. It’s what Charles Dickens would have wanted.
By Julia Tilford, contributor for Ripleys.com
December 16, 2019
Why Pinball Games Were Once Against The Law
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Modern-day pinball fanatics are everywhere, and there are a reported 4,500 pinball competitions taking place around the world every year. So it may seem odd to consider that, once upon a time, pinball games were illegal in many parts of the world.
In fact, “many places still have laws on the books banning pinball,” Tim Arnold says. He operates the world-renowned Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame and manages a staff of dedicated volunteers. About those laws, he explains: “a law passed today will ‘sunset’ (expire) after a period of time unless renewed. (But) many old laws did not time out and just sit on the books.”
A wonder itself, Arnold’s nonprofit Pinball Hall of Fame was founded by members of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is open to the public. The 10,000 square foot facility is home to the world’s largest pinball collection—200 games and counting. And that includes some of the older machines that caused police intervention.
“We have many of the early machines that could be used for gambling,” Arnold says. “(But) because gambling laws are so strict in Nevada, we have them for show only—you can’t play them.”
But why ban something as innocent as pinball? Bet you can guess.
“Low skill games like the early pinballs with no flippers were easy for location owners and game operators to pay out on,” Arnold continues. ”Local politicians reacted and banned all types of pinballs, including ‘flipper’ pinballs”—those requiring more skill than simple luck.
“Sometimes for a photo op, a few machines would be rounded up and smashed to bits with hammers,” Arnold says.
So, playing a game of pinball became something for the stealthy and brave-hearted. Although outlawed, these machines were still popular and would be sheltered in secretive back rooms, hidden from an oblivious public.
In New York City, pinball was off-limits from the early 1940s until 1976; Mayor Fiorello La Guardia professed concern for the nickels of young children, in his mind unfairly taken by the many pinball machines of that era.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, pinball machines were banned in 1939, a decision that was reversed in 1974. Chicago, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City also enforced bans on the games.
So what changed?
In 1976, a Manhattan court made the determination that these machines were games of skill, rather than chance. Pinball lovers the world over have Roger Sharpe to thank for that, who appeared as a star witness for the Amusement and Music Operators Association. In that courtroom, he called out his shots and, with surgical focus, proceeded to deliver his predicted targets as others looked on in awe.
It probably didn’t hurt that officials already had plans to enact a registration fee, should their ban be overturned; pure speculation of course, but players can only wonder if those plans tilted the tables in our favor.
Either way, the machines made their way back to convenience stores and parlors alike—and their mainstream popularity continues, to this very day.
By Bill Furbee, contributor for Ripleys.com
December 15, 2019
December 14, 2019
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