Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 241
October 30, 2019
October 29, 2019
What Exactly Is A Fiji Mermaid?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Famous sideshow impresario, P.T. Barnum was the man most directly responsible for the birth, and rise to fame, of the legendary Fiji mermaid.
The hoax became reality when, in 1842, Barnum manipulated the New York Herald and two other newspapers to publish exclusive articles about these elusive mermaids. The rest is history.
Barnum was able to make his Fiji mermaid a hit, stumping naturalists and everyday gawkers alike. For decades people believed the creepy fish-like creature was, in fact, real.
Soon after Barnum’s original display, sideshows all over the world started “finding” similar mermaids. Research has suggested that the original was made as early as 1822 by Japanese sailors. That almost 200-year-old oddity was supposedly lost in a fire, but a few places still claim to have the original “true” mermaid.
Barnum was no stranger to forging exhibits for his American Museum, an early attraction that boasted oddities from around the world. The showman would go on to claim a slave he bought had been the nanny of George Washington and even had his own fake giant created.
Nearly 100 years later, Robert Ripley displayed the mermaid as a debunked hoax in his New York City Odditorium. The brain-child of P.T. Barnum, the Fiji mermaid, was nothing more than the torso of a monkey sewn to the back half of a large fish.
Today, Fiji mermaids can be found in Ripley’s Odditoriums all over the world. While a few are original sideshow pieces from traveling shows, some are remade by modern artists.
The specimen shown here is a modern replica made by Juan Cabana of Tampa, Florida. Some of Cabana’s mermaids have chicken feet hands, while others have alligator feet hands. However, they all have an understructure of carved styrofoam, with real fish skin stretched over the frame before being dried and painted.
Source: What Exactly Is A Fiji Mermaid?
Ernest Hemingway’s Home Is Inhabited By Six-Toed Cats
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Novelist Ernest Hemingway is well-known for his iconic contributions to American literature. The scene in which most of his famous writings were born is none other than his Spanish Colonial home in Key West, Florida, but his stories aren’t the only thing that came to live amongst these grounds. This decorated residence is now the happy home to about 50 cats, many of which are polydactyl, or have six toes.
Ernest Hemingway and sons Patrick (left) and Gregory, with cats Good Will, Princessa, and Boise. Finca Vigia (Hemingway home), San Francisco de Paula, Cuba. Photograph in the Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
The first of the felines to roam Hemingway’s home was known as Snow White. She was gifted to Hemingway by a visiting sea captain, as six-toed cats are rumored to bring good luck to their owners. And, from a travel companion perspective, they’re also thought to have better balance in rough seas and are well-versed in catching mice. Hemingway was a sailor himself, so it’s likely he appreciated the good-fortuned gift from the visiting captain.
Everyday cats have five front toes and four back toes. But, at Hemingway’s home, about half of the cats have the physical polydactyl trait resulting in six toes on one paw. And while some may not have the physical polydactyl appearance, they all carry the polydactyl gene in their DNA; this means that cats with 4 and 5 toes can still mother or father six-toed kittens.
The cats that currently reside at what is now The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. As there are white ones, black ones, tabbies, and calicos, they are not of one particular breed. Each of the residing cats is named after a famous person—a tradition Hemingway instilled. Popular icons like Hunter S. Thompson, Tennessee Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Billie Holiday have earned their spot in the group.
The museum employs a veterinarian to take care of the abundance of felines on the property. Routine procedures include vaccinations, worming, and ear treatments to ensure that all residents are happy and healthy.
When Hurricane Irma made its way through Florida in 2017, Key West was hit with rough winds and damaging weather conditions. Despite the weather warnings for evacuation, and a very concerned message from Muriel Hemingway, Ernest’s granddaughter, the museum’s general manager Jacque Sands and 10 employees chose not to leave the area during the storm. Instead, they stayed on the property to care for the cats, and thankfully their hard work paid off. All of Hemingway’s cats survived, remaining safe and sound in their rightful home.
Interestingly, the cats seemed to know that bad weather was approaching.
“When we started to round up the cats to take them inside, some of them actually ran inside knowing it was time to take shelter,” the house’s curator, Dave Gonzales, told the New York Times. “Sometimes I think they’re smarter than human beings.”
Hemingway lived in his Key West home for about a decade. He wrote several famous works while living there, including The Snows of Kilimanjaro and For Whom the Bell Tolls. The home was built in 1851, and Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline Preiffer, extensively renovated the building. They spent the modern equivalent of $347,000 on a swimming pool and decorated the rooms with antiques and the author’s big-game hunting trophies.
Now his works are admired by readers and writers everywhere. And his home: a staple bucket list stop for Key West visitors and the permanent residence to many six-toed furry friends.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Ernest Hemingway’s Home Is Inhabited By Six-Toed Cats
Stories Inside The Waverly Hills Sanatorium – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 21
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Dubbed one of the most haunted places in America, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium saw thousands of tuberculosis patients die as the disease ravaged early 20th-century America.
This week on the Notcast, Brent and Ryan take a step inside the now-defunct hospital. They talk about the building’s history—including the infamous death chute—and Ryan talks about his encounter with the unexplained while touring the facility.
For more weird news and strange stories, visit our homepage, and be sure to rate and share this episode of the Notcast!
Source: Stories Inside The Waverly Hills Sanatorium – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 21
October 28, 2019
Mercury’s Backspin Is Causing Some Celestial Chaos
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In case you haven’t heard—or felt the sense of dread in the air—Mercury goes into retrograde on Halloween, the spookiest night of the year. This celestial shift may be of little importance to the casual horoscope reader, but to the witches of Salem, Massachusetts, this planetary phenomenon requires some serious spellcasting.
What is Retrograde Anyway?
Who knows what anyone really means when they say “Mercury is in retrograde” anyway? It has become an almost quarterly cop-out for bad vibes. In reality, it’s not that far off…
Mercury Retrograde is just one big optical illusion. The planet Mercury, as viewed from Earth, simply appears to reverse its orbit and travel backward around the sun. This illusion is simply due to Mercury moving slower than Earth.
Because Mercury orbits in 88 days compared to Earth’s 365, this inner planet laps our own three times this year.
Will This Affect You?
This alignment of the planets may not concern astronomers, but the astrological belief that Mercury controls our transportation, technology, timing, scheduling, and communication skills causes some to panic.
If you subscribe to said astrological beliefs, Mercury’s plunge into retrograde occurs during peak Scorpio season, a ruling water zodiac sign. It is thought that retrograde will reverberate the effects of the Scorpio’s intense, passionate, and sometimes poisonous emotions throughout the communication abilities of all other zodiac signs. It’s a time to talk about your nitty-gritty feelings, whether you want to or not. Deep, meaningful, and possibly tumultuous conversations are projected to occur until this topsy-turvy orbit ends on November 20th.
Mercury’s backspin could also wreak havoc on schedules, transportation, and all smart devices. Expect traffic, tardiness, and overarching chaotic energy.
WWWD?
What would witches do? But, really—Ripley’s recently paid a visit to Salem, Massachusetts, and learned from the best how to help manage your retrograde blues. From choosing the right gemstone, to displaying the best attitude-adjusting colors, and mixing together the perfect blend of herbs, Salem witches say you can have your mischief managed in no time!
Colors
Lynn of The Coven’s Cottage informed us that for the same reasons your favorite color makes you smile, colors are used in spells to evoke an emotional response. Lighting a candle or placing spell ingredients in a bag with a color that corresponds to the way you want to feel works to help focus your intentions.
Yellow – Use if you start to trip over your tongue, as it represents communication and strengthens your mental clarity.
Orange – Use if major changes come your way, be it travel, your schedule, or reality-shattering conversations.
Light Blue -Use to provide calming and healing energy to keep you mentally stable during this spiritual roller coaster ride.
Stones
Precious stones have been used as metaphysical healing aids throughout a variety of cultures. It’s believed that certain stones have medicinal properties and, when held by the user or placed on the ill, they release healing energies. Ancient Egyptians used to adorn themselves with Turquoise to ward off sickness and negative energy.
When warding off miscommunication during Mercury Retrograde, Kellie from Salem’s Pyramid Books recommends holding onto a chunk of Blue Lace Agate for its believed ability to enhance verbal communication. Plus, the cool blue of this crystal is sure to soothe your temper. Adding a Fluorite stone is said to increase your focus and concentration, which may come in handy if your travel plans take an unexpected detour.
Herbs
Herbalism, the use of plants as medicine, is one of the oldest forms of medical treatments recorded. Believe It or Not!, the first-ever painkiller and fever reducer was made from the bark of a willow tree. If you’re putting together a spell bag, or just lighting some delicious smelling incense to ground you during this planetary instability, shop witch Lynn says Frankincense will bring you back to your senses due to its aid in regulating emotions and opening our minds to communication. To give your system a little boost, add a few Star Anise seeds. Not only does she say these little pods will banish negativity, but they also smell like licorice!
Relax in Retrograde
Remember that no matter how frenzied Mercury Retrograde season gets, you have a few magical tips and tricks from Salem’s best to keep in your pocket—preferably on the left side of your body, as it’s the receiving side for those positive vibes!
Bring it on, witches!
By Briana Posner, Junior Editor at Ripley Entertainment
Fertilizing Crops With Ancient Cat Mummies
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In ancient Egypt, mummified cats were considered a reverent gift to the gods. The gifts were intended to last forever, to appease a deity in the hopes that they would help a mortal achieve their goals. There were hundreds of thousands of these gifts, perhaps millions.
Now, many of the sacred objects have been turned into dirt to fertilize crops.
Cats as Sacrifices
In ancient Egypt, cats were important cultural animals, but that doesn’t mean they were always treated well. Certainly, family cats were given names and respect as both mouse-chasers and companions. However, not all cats lived the charmed life. The demand for cat mummies as sacrifices was so high that historians believe farmers bred cats in captivity specifically to be killed and sold as sacrifices.
A Morbid Discovery
In fact, there were so many sacrificial cats that millions have been found, and people hardly even know what to do with them all. In 1888, a farmer digging in the sand found an enormous deposit—hundreds of thousands of cats! This was clearly a place for leaving sacrifices.
What is there to do with heaps of cat mummies? Surely a single body may have important information or collector’s value. However, when there are too many of one item in a market, the item loses value. If there were a million Mona Lisas, the one in the Louvre wouldn’t be anything special—or worth much money.
So, some of the nicest-looking mummies were collected and sold, going to museums and private collections. However, according to sources collected by StrangeHistory.net, about 180,000 of those cats were sent to Liverpool. There, they were ground up and put in the ground to fertilize crops.
Bodies as Fertilizer
It may seem tragic that animals destined to live on eternally as offerings to great gods ended up mixed in with manure and thrown in the dirt. However, the bodies of animals such as cats are filled with nutrients that microorganisms eat and turn into rich soil. Farmers use that soil to grow food, and in turn, that food feeds people and animals.
The ancient Egyptians hoped that the cats would live forever in some way when they killed and mummified the animals. While it might have been more respectful to simply leave the mummies as they were, at least they were able to serve humanity in the circle of life by helping crops in England grow.
By Kristin Hugo, contributor for Ripleys.com
Kristin Hugo is a science journalist with writing in National Geographic, Newsweek, and PBS Newshour. She’s especially experienced in covering animals, bones, and anything weird or gross. When not writing, Kristin is spray painting and cleaning bones in her New York City yard. Find her on Twitter at @KristinHugo , Tumblr at @StrangeBiology , and Instagram at @thestrangebiology .
October 27, 2019
October 26, 2019
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