Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 428
February 9, 2017
We Bought Rodents from this Strange Old Taxidermy Museum
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Potter’s Museum of Curiosity hosted the taxidermy creations of Walter Potter. It featured bird funerals, rabbit school, mouse funerals, and kitten tea parties.
The taxidermy museum was open for 100 years before it closed in 2003. Most of its contents sold at auction, but Ripley’s Believe It or Not! managed to snag a few of our own.
On display in our Branson Odditorium.
Walter Potter
Potter’s first piece of taxidermy was a canary he preserved at 19 years old. From there, he caught taxidermy fever. Taxidermy was immensely popular in 1860s England.
His trademark style of arranging taxidermied animals into performing human functions came from recreating nursery rhymes.
To recreate “The Death and Burial of Cock Robin,” he used 98 different species of British birds collected by family and friends. It went on display in a local pub, and was a hit!
The Death of Cock Robin
The Museum
Completely self-taught, Potter began making elaborate more anthropomorphized taxidermy displays.
Soon, he became so popular that he was able to open a full museum dedicated to his work. At his height, he had over 6,000 animals on display.
The museum was located in Bramber, Sussex, and charged a mere two cents for admission.
Sourcing the Animals
All of the animals Potter used came from nearby farms or were found by neighbors. He maintained that no animals had been deliberately killed for his personal use.
He eventually ended up with animal oddities, including two-faced kitten.
What happened?
After his death, the museum changed hands several times before eventually being broken up. In the end, his work sold for nearly $1,000,000! Some of the pieces ended up in the Ripley’s collection.
Source: We Bought Rodents from this Strange Old Taxidermy Museum
February 8, 2017
Queens Live By Their Own Rules
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Royals all around the world have lived by their own set of rules since the beginning of time. Here is just a small sampling of stories that illustrates Queens do what they want.
Click the video for the strangest stories brought to us by our favorite Royal Queens.
Source: Queens Live By Their Own Rules
February 7, 2017
Cat Rescued Carrying Half Its Weight in Matted Fur
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Sinbad the cat was rescued with over five pounds of matted fur clinging to his tiny body. The fur has immobilized him for so long that his hind legs had weakened to the point the cat could no longer move.
Thanks to the help of a concerned utility worker, however, Sinbad has been shaved and found a new home.
Courtesy the Anti-Cruelty Society
Rescue
Anti-Cruelty Society workers say that the previous owner was an elderly man who had trouble taking care of himself, much less Sinbad.
The process of removing the matted fur took hours, but vets say Sinbad was sweet and calm the whole time. They had to force feed him for part of the procedure in order to protect the cat’s kidneys from failure.
Sinbad’s foster owner became the cat’s permanent guardian. Elliot Serrano of the Anti-Cruelty Society said he was stunned to see Sinbad so affectionate with people after the ordeal.
“It’s a lesson we could all learn.” – Elliot Serrano, Anti-Cruelty Society
Courtesy the Anti-Cruelty Society
First Living Ruby Seadragon Discovered
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The Ruby seadragon was discovered in its natural habitat by a team of scientists, including the Western Australian Museum. It is now one among only three known species of seadragons, making it particularly rare.
Unlike the leafy or weedy seadragons, this seadragon lacks leafy appendages thought to be common to all seadragons. This likely has to do with its habitat, which consists of open spaces and sponges, not kelp and seagrass.
Leafy seadragon at the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada
Weedy seadragon
Discovered in an Archive
The first ruby seadragon was actually collected 100 years ago, but the specimen was thought to be a leafy seadragon.
It wasn’t until 2015 that researchers discovered it might be something different.
A photo posted by Western Australian Museum (@wamuseum) on Feb 19, 2015 at 12:53am PST
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
February 6, 2017
City Councilman Swears in on Captain America’s Shield
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Recently elected San Jose, California, councilman, Lan Diep, took his oath of office holding a replica of Captain America’s shield.
The Republican councilman said he took his job seriously but wasn’t above entertaining people to get them interested in public policy.
Yes, we have video of San Jose councilman @LTDiep taking his oath of office with a Captain America shield. https://t.co/eaQY69OEXY pic.twitter.com/0lWUfjZGAW
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) January 25, 2017
Champion of Change
Diep was actually named an official Champion of Change in 2011 by President Obama. When asked why he chose Captain America’s shield, he said Captain America was “the embodiment of America’s ideals.”
The son of refugees from Vietnam and a former member of the Equal Justice Works, Diep seems to have all the trappings of a modern superhero origin story. But will he live up to the theme song?
Source: City Councilman Swears in on Captain America’s Shield
February 5, 2017
Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
- Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s profile
- 52 followers
