Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 395
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August 11, 2017
Where did Women Jumping out of Cakes Come From?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Cool Stuff, Strange Things
Hosted by Ripley’s lead researcher, Sabrina Sieck, let Ripley’s Believe It or Not! introduce YOU to the coolest stuff and strangest things.
Today: Women In Cakes
Women Jumping out of Cakes
Ripley’s recently purchased the most expensive dress ever sold at auction—5 million dollars for the gown worn by Marilyn Monroe at JFK’s birthday celebration. With a price tag like that, I don’t blame the blondie for not slinking out of a cake to sing Happy Birthday Mr. President, but it would have made for a memorable entrance.
On today’s episode of Cool Stuff Strange Things: How did the tradition of girls jumping out of cakes start anyway?!
Scandal & Murder
Believe it or not, the first recorded pop-out cake party is linked to…MURDER.
Way back in 1895, a wealthy architect named Stanford White hosted a gathering for some well-to-do gentlemen of the era. During the party, an unusually large pie was brought out and, unexpectedly, out popped a scantily clad young girl by the name of Susie Johnson.
Behind the scenes of the party, Stanford was having an affair, which led to a scorned lover shooting him over a decade later in what the media dubbed “The Trial of the Century.” But this didn’t just make headlines because of the blood, wealth, and scandal; the country was enthralled by the “Pie Girl Dinner,” as the details of the of what exactly happened the night Susie Johnson (as well as a bunch of birds) popped out of a delectable dessert became public.
But, this True Crime cake caper and its feathered friends stemmed from ancient history: raging Roman dinner parties.
Ancient Romans
The Ancient Romans were the first to mix food with live entertainment. They were also the predecessors of the turducken, cooking and stuffing one animal—such as a roasted pig—inside another, like a cow. Pretty much a paleo hot pocket. Chefs even created the mythical beast dubbed, a Cockentrice, a bizarre Buffalo-Bill-splicing of a pig and a chicken into a “new” animal. They were even fond of staging their proteins to look like they were alive, like stuffing an apple in a pig’s mouth or plating fish swimming in a sea of sauce.
The next logical step, of course, was actually using live animals. By the end of the Middle Ages, it was very popular to stuff live birds inside food in order for them to fly out once it was sliced open!
But, how? Those poor little birdies! Well, think more along the lines of a pot pie rather than a Twin Peaks slice of cherry. The crust was thick and baked first, later placed on top to form a lid, like that of a pot (hence the term “pot pie”). The birds would then be set inside and the lid put on prior to serving. So, these little guys would not actually be baked into the pie.
If you’re wondering how someone could bring themselves to consume an avian influenza flavored dish, don’t fret. The chef would usually have another pie on standby to actually eat, as the birds were sure to leave a few surprises of their own in there…
The Pie-Encased Orchestra
Animals became passé and humans entered into the mix. Believe it or not, at a banquet hosted by French engineer Philippe Le Bon, 28 musicians—an entire orchestra—was crammed into a pie! And, in 1626, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham presented Charles I with a dwarf-filled pie. Standing just 45 centimeters tall, Sir Jeffery Hudson, a.k.a. “Lord Minimus,” emerged from the crust in a full suit of armor!
By the 1800s, as we know from the story of Susie Johnson, pie girls were presented as entertainment for the male elite. By the 1950s, showgirls jumping out of giant cakes became mainstream for office gatherings and conventions. But, by the 1970s, the feminist movement took shape, and with more and more women in the workplace, illustrious ladies covered in frosting were less welcome at company functions. The tradition faded away to the deepest darkest depths of the bachelor party and to vortexes of vice like Las Vegas.
However, it was not lost. From Some Like It Hot, in which a thug pops out with a machine gun, to more modern examples, like Mariah Carey’s “Loverboy” music video, we can thank pop culture for keeping the tradition alive!
“There was something in that cake that didn’t agree with them.”
Let Them Eat Cake!
Let them eat cake…and jump out of it! Actually, according to historians, Marie-Antoinette didn’t really say that…not even the “let them eat cake” part. Just another cool snippet for you to hold you over until next week. Until then, make sure to subscribe, save room for dessert and stay strange!
August 10, 2017
WWII Parachute Wedding Dress
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Remember when Scarlet O’Hara made an incredible dress from her curtains in Gone With the Wind? Well, Ruth Hensinger did just that, but with her husband’s WWII parachute.
Major Hensinger and his Parachute
Major Claude Hensinger was once an American B-29 pilot during World War II, and in 1944, he was trying to return home, but unfortunately, his engine caught fire from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan. Hensinger and his crew had no other choice but to evacuate the plane and Hensinger did so with his parachute. Thankfully, he only suffered minor injuries after landing on some rocks in China. That night, he kept himself warm with his parachute and even used it as a pillow. The following day, he and his crew were brought to safety and were able to return home to the United States.
Dating Ruth
The same year, Major Hensinger began to date Ruth. After a year of courting her, he went down on his knee and asked Ruth to marry him, not with a ring, but rather the lucky parachute that saved him that cold night in China.
“This is the parachute that saved my life. I want you to make a wedding gown out of it,” said Hensinger to Ruth.
While Ruth was honored and excited, she said, “I thought to myself, ‘How am I going to make a gown out of 16 gores of nylon and all that bias?’”
Ruth had emulated the pattern from a dress she fell absolutely in love with displayed in a window that looked identical to Scarlet O’Hara’s in Gone With the Wind. Ruth sought out Hilda Buck, who was a local seamstress, to make the veil and bodice as Ruth designed and sewed the skirt.
Married with a Parachute Wedding Dress
At Neffs Luther Church in Pensylvania, on July 19, 1947, Ruth and Major Claude Hensinger were married. It was said that he was elated to be reunited with the parachute that saved his life and the love of his life.
“My husband didn’t see the gown until I walked down the aisle,” said Ruth. “He was happy with it.”
Major Claude Hensinger and Ruth on their wedding day.
Parachute Wedding Dress On Display
Believe it or not, more than twenty-five years later, the dress is now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Collection/Division of Social History, Donor: Hensinger, Cat. No. 1992.0236.1, from 120mm ektachrome CC: Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Source: WWII Parachute Wedding Dress
August 9, 2017
Chess Boxing Will Test Your Body and Brain
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
There is no finer sport that matches wits and fists than chess boxing. Whether you choose to call it a hybrid fighting sport, or hybrid board game, chess boxing is exactly what you think it would be. Two opponents play a game of chess for one round, then box for another, and repeat.
Rules
A win is decided by a checkmate or knockout. If the chess match ends in a tie, the match is decided by technical points, and if that’s a tie, the black chess player wins.
The match lasts 11 rounds and begins with chess. The combatants square off in a timed game of chess for six minutes, then switch right over to fighting. They only have a short 60-seconds while the board is being removed from the ring to take a break.
Once the boxing ring ends, they are back at the board continuing their ongoing chess match. Separate referees typically monitor the chess match and boxing.
If you’re wondering why they have headsets on at the table, it’s to drown out the noise of the crowd and commentators to focus on the game.
Weight classes follow normal boxing, lightweight to heavyweight—for both men and women—and an Elo chess rating of 1,600 is required for professional participation. The most recent champion, however, has an Elo over 2,000.
Origins
The idea came from a French comic book, Froid Equateur, except in the book, the chess match is played after a complete boxing match. Truly a game of endurance, athletes in the real sport must return to an in-motion game of chess between bouts of punching each other in the face.
To train, combatants will play games of speed chess after intense workouts or sprints on stairs.
“Fighting’s done in the ring, and war’s waged on the board.” -World Chess Boxing Organization motto
Is It a Worm or Is It a Lizard? It’s the Mexican Mole Lizard!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
You might confuse this creature with an extremely long earthworm or even a strange form of those insanely cute axolotls, but it is actually the Mexican Mole Lizard. This reptile is neither lizard or worm. The Bipes biporus (the Mexican Mole Lizard) can grow up to 9.4 inches, as long as a strand of thick spaghetti. They live in abundance in southwest Baja California, but you probably won’t see one since it is rarely found above ground.
Screenshot from The Reptile Channel – HerpersTV
Snake Myth
The Mexican Mole Lizard has inspired a generation of stories and continues to do so. I can’t tell you the countless times my mother told me (and still does) to make sure my toilet seat is closed while I am sleeping because this snake-like creature will come crawling out of it, and somehow manage to wiggle its way into my sheets; however, this can never happen. Remember, they are burrowing creatures, meaning they live underground. Whenever they are above ground, it’s usually caused by torrential downpours. It explains why they are so fair skinned. Since they spend so much time underground, they lack melanin.
Self-amputation
The number one threat to the Mexican Mole Lizard? Snakes! Believe it or not, they can self-amputate their tails on command to escape predators. The downside is they can only do this once in their life because their tails don’t regenerate.
Mexican Mole Lizard via The Reptile Channel – HerpersTV
Did you know?
This species is oviparous (they lay eggs before they hatch).
It only breeds underground.
The females lay one to four eggs in July.
The eggs hatch after two months.
Their diet consists of ants, termites, ground-dwelling insects, larvae, earthworms, and small animals, including lizards.
It doesn’t have any hind legs.
It is one of four species of amphisbaenians that have legs.
They usually only live two years.
Source: Is It a Worm or Is It a Lizard? It’s the Mexican Mole Lizard!
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