Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 91
April 24, 2022
April 23, 2022
April 22, 2022
Woman Earns Up To $10k for Branded Baby Names
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A quick Google search for “baby name anxiety” will tell you that new parents are often in for a motherlode of stress when it comes time to name their bundle of joy. In an age where personal branding is everything, parents are doing whatever it takes to ensure their child is named for success — even if that means paying someone else good money to do the job for them.
Enter Taylor Humphrey, a 33-year-old New York–based who will pick the perfect name for your latest little one for the low fee of $1,500 a pop — to start.
In the last year alone, Humphrey helped name over a hundred children, as indecisive parents-to-be tossed their baby-naming books aside in favor of hiring her to curate a list of names tailored to their child’s yet-to-be-determined personality.
Playing the Name GameAs easy as it would be to use a baby-name generator and cash in, Humphrey puts a lot of thought and effort into choosing the right name for each individual child, with a process that begins with a questionnaire and a genealogical investigation, and extends to sourcing inspiration from films, literature, street signs, and current trends. For $10,000, she’ll even deep dive to find a name that complements the parents’ business branding! Humphrey’s services don’t stop there, though; parents are also welcome to hire her as their doula.
“While it’s easy to say that I name people’s babies for a living, my work is so much deeper and more nuanced than that,” Humphrey told . “My job is to hold space, and provide spiritual, emotional, and physical support for my clients as they progress through the major life transition of becoming a parent.”
Though she’s been obsessed with baby names since she was a child herself, christening strangers’ children was not an obvious career path for Humphrey, who worked in a smorgasbord of industries ranging from digital marketing and investor relations to matchmaking and screenwriting after graduating from N.Y.U. before launching her Instagram handle in 2015.
Her Instagram videos have since been viewed over 1.7 million times and she has expanded to TikTok, where she offers quick, less personalized name options for free, often for people looking for names to complement those of their other children.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Taylor A. Humphrey (@whatsinababyname)
Despite the research Humphrey puts into her work, there’s definitely a sense of “different strokes for different folks,” as she’s been shut down in the past, in one instance for the name Stellan sounding a bit too close to Stalin. Fair enough.
What’s In a Name?It seems like only yesterday that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin were blasted by media outlets over the absurdity of naming their daughter after a fruit, but somehow Apple is only weeks away from being a full-blown adult, and officially a blip on the radar of unique baby names.
While no parent wants their kid to be like every other Tom, Dick, or Harry — or in the case of millennials, every other Michael, Jessica, or Ashley — the importance of a unique name has increased drastically in the digital age, in which your name is truly at the core of identity and even correlates to personal success.
goes back as far as 1954, when G. Johoda of University College of the Gold Coast in Africa began studying the Ashanti belief that the day of the week a person is born, which is included in their name, correlates their temperament.
Jahoda cross-referenced juvenile court records for individuals born on Wednesday, which is believed to produce more violent males, with those born on the more mild-mannered Monday. Coincidence or not, the outcome upheld the superstition, with boys born on Wednesday committing far more crimes.
In 2010, David Figlio of Northwestern University in Illinois , linguistically dissecting millions of uncommon names pulled from birth certificates, ultimately determining that kids with names that are phonetically likely to have been given by poorly educated parents are more likely to be treated differently, do worse in school, and be diagnosed with a learning disability than their peers.
Figlio also delved into the psychological component of how we experience names, whether it’s loathing the name Billy because someone with the same name bullied you as a child or associating a name with a time period or character. People who dislike their own names are likely to be more critical when choosing their own children’s names, and an out-of-the-box name can make protective parents feel that their child may be ostracized.
Other ways names could affect your lifestyle and success include higher hiring rates for women with gender-neutral names, and easier to pronounce names, more common names, and people with names higher up in the alphabet getting into better schools. As for people with names listed lower in the alphabet, years spent waiting for their name to be called !
According to Humphrey, “If you look at the most popular baby names, it’s such a telltale sign of our cultural values and our aspirations.”
Baby Name BoomHumphrey is happy to take on the high-stakes challenge that often paralyzes parents playing Goldilocks trying to find a name that isn’t overly popular or pompous, yet is unique and cool, but not bizarre.
While ten years ago, parents were keeping it short and sweet with four-letter names like Luna and Levi, the lockdown has made sourdough-loving, cottage-core parents take a turn toward the traditional, favoring names like Josephine, Theodore, and Cornelia (although we can probably thank Taylor Swift for that one).
Britney Spears’ recent pregnancy announcement has Humphrey’s wheels turning, as she lists everyone’s favorite free woman as her dream client, along with Elon Musk, whose children’s names, X Æ A-12 and Exa Dark Sideræl, demonstrate “the pinnacle of thoughtfulness and creativity.”
At the end of the day, Humphrey’s core belief is that a good name has nothing to do with public opinion, but rather “how well it suits the child who bears it.”
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source:
April 21, 2022
The Dark Secret That Forced Walter Rothschild To Sell His Bird Collection
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
When Walter Rothschild sold one of his most precious zoological collections to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1931, it spoke of unmistakable financial desperation. Coupled with the fact he offered 280,000 of his precious birds for a measly $225,000, it underscored cracks in the veneer of the hyper-wealthy Rothschild family. Although Walter proved fortunate beyond measure, born into one of London’s wealthiest families, a 40-year-old secret depleted his funds, often leaving him with little more than pocket change.
In 1983, his biographer and niece, Miriam Rothschild, published Dear Lord Rothschild, finally bringing her uncle’s hidden passions, demons, and blackmailers (mostly) to light. Here’s what you need to know about the events that made him part ways with one of his most precious collections.
Growing Up in a MenagerieLife in Victorian England varied depending on your socioeconomic background and parental status. Orphans and impoverished children worked as bootblacks and chimney sweeps while the offspring of the middle and upper classes enjoyed idyllic upbringings, shielded from the world’s ugliness. Those in the highest wealth bracket often devoted themselves to one of the Victorian world’s bizarre hobbies, like creating seaweed scrapbooks or collecting anthropomorphic taxidermy.
Seaweed Scrapbook, ca. 1840. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund.
But for a boy with parents of almost infinite means, none of these leisure pursuits would do. So, when Mr. and Mrs. Rothschild observed their son’s fascination with the natural world as he stomped through the family garden watching insects for hours, they decided to take his pursuits next level by collecting a veritable zoo of exotic species. Soon, the family menagerie at Tring Park in Hertfordshire included cranes, storks, kangaroos, wild horses, zebras, a spiny anteater, emus, and a pangolin.
The Obsession With Animals PersistedInstead of outgrowing his childhood interests, Walter clung firmly to his fascination with the wild kingdom. Although he spent a miserable 15 years dutiful working at New Court, the global headquarters of the Rothschild investment bank, his heart remained with his animals. After early retirement, he devoted himself to assembling one of the finest privately owned museums, complete with live and dead specimens, in the United Kingdom.
During his lifetime, he employed approximately 400 collectors and acquired specimens from 48 different nations around the globe. As the reputation of his collections grew, individuals from various parts of the world sent him unique items, further bolstering his expansive lists of specimens. Among his most famous collections was an assortment of 144 live giant tortoises from the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador and Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean.
Not only did Walter wish to increase his collection, but he wanted to preserve these incredible animals for future generations by protecting them from hunting and the likelihood of extinction in their native habitats. At one point, he even leased the island of Aldabra for a decade to prohibit hunting and the decline of local giant tortoise populations.
A Collector ExtraordinaireWalter collected an impressive 2,000 mounted animals and 2,000 mounted birds during his lifetime. He also boasted a collection of butterflies and moths in the millions and had 300,000 bird skins to boot. Furthermore, he amassed 200,000 birds’ eggs and 30,000 books on natural history topics.
As for his live specimens, we’ve already talked about his 144 giant tortoises, but the collections didn’t end there. He also domesticated and trained four zebras to pull a horse-drawn carriage and was even invited to bring it to the steps of Buckingham Palace. Additionally, he kept 64 live cassowaries, a giant flightless bird found in New Guinea and Australia.
Each cassowary had its portrait done in watercolor by artist Frederick William Frohawk, and after their deaths, they were carefully stuffed and preserved. Interestingly, he refused to part ways with his beloved cassowaries in the bargain basement sale of his ornithological collection to the American Museum of Natural History.
Dark Secrets ConspiredBut despite the animal fun, Walter had skeletons lurking in his closet. And they refused to keep quiet or stay silent without money — lots of it. Over 40 years, Walter was blackmailed out of vast sums of cash and a significant part of his life’s work. Who did the blackmailing? Two brilliant, beautiful, and audacious women who became his mistresses: Lizzie Ritchie and aspiring actress Marie Fredensen. He met both women at the same party hosted by King Edward VII, and they would cause him decades of trouble and worry.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'lOFwJG9dTYR1dwgIoboq5g',sig:'une1hthtDkT4cXyeLhJeKDzD9jirg7aAjnlV3mL80Dw=',w:'594px',h:'464px',items:'3320100',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
A reputation for shyness didn’t stop Walter from carrying on with both women simultaneously, setting each one up in a separate apartment and doing his darnedest to keep them from ever finding out about each other. Of course, secrets have a way of getting found out, and once Lizzie discovered Marie, all hell broke loose. Lizzie attempted to contact Walter’s mother and put so much pressure on him that his younger brother Charles had to intervene.
Charles negotiated terms with each woman, buying them off with cash and land bribes. But the blackmail didn’t end there. As it turns out, a third lover and her husband had been blackmailing Walter for four decades, and they’re the ones which ultimately forced him to sell his bird collection.
Miriam Rothschild describes these events with aplomb in her biography, but she never gives away the name of the third mistress. However, she does note the woman as being “charming, witty, aristocratic and ruthless.” Unfortunately for Walter, he never figured out that when it came to money-grubbing mistresses, birds of a feather flock together.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: The Dark Secret That Forced Walter Rothschild To Sell His Bird Collection
April 20, 2022
The Fearless Daredevils Who Built The Empire State Building
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The Empire State Building has always been New York City’s most iconic skyscraper. It has been featured in movies, video games, and TV shows throughout history — even King Kong climbs to its top when it’s time to escape his captors.
Back when it was completed in 1931, the 102-story art deco skyscraper was the tallest building in the world — and it remained so for over 40 years. It was also built insanely fast. Not only for something built in the 1930s, but even today it would seem impossible to complete a 1,250-foot-high skyscraper in just 410 days. This means workers were completing four and a half floors a week. Given the technology and tools available in the 1930s, this was no easy feat.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'sZHAAsf6R1h8A4-mCcHdQw',sig:'ORbtTZsJd8JyYSa8Xl0bPc3LoGNGF7OQSEdpDFLkBec=',w:'594px',h:'443px',items:'515142762',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
And it wasn’t one that came cheap either — in today’s money, the land, planning, and construction of the Empire State Building cost the equivalent to over $750 million. Sounds like a lot of money, but this was actually under budget (and ahead of schedule).
The Daredevil Sky BoysAs impressive as the Empire State Building still is today, perhaps more impressive is the men who are behind its construction. You’ve seen the photos: workers walking or sitting on beams swinging up 80 stories up in the air, hanging from precarious cables or jumping over open spaces hundreds of feet above the street. This wouldn’t be possible today, when (thankfully) safety regulations and standards would demand the use of harnesses as a very minimum — but these daredevils were even a rarity back then, and press photographers loved them.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'UaMj7KhDRZdzFI-izNXrUw',sig:'JAjlwp8HBzFMh8RAPmsoJQ8wOGtTXO51DmcvduHkuNg=',w:'471px',h:'594px',items:'514698932',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
The 3,400-strong task force — often referred to back then as “the sky boys” — was made up of mainly Italian and Irish immigrant laborers who did everything from laying bricks and installing elevators, to setting up heating and ventilation, plus everything in between. A significant number of the ironworkers on site were Mohawk who had come over from the Kahnawake reservation specifically to work on the building. All workers earned $15 a day and on busy days (especially towards the end of the construction project), 3,000 men could be onsite at the same time.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'R6rMEiKWT9VoyDpLsNr0Lw',sig:'2oOIUiNRABkn25Qatk9i9OGngdrGEi8dCutiBKC-vnk=',w:'594px',h:'461px',items:'515143010',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
When Tragedy StrikesThere are five known deaths surrounding the construction of the Empire State Building. Unfounded rumors and a story published on the New York Daily News put the death toll at 14 men or even hundreds, although this has never been verified. The confirmed deaths were caused by either falls or being struck by objects, with wet weather playing a part in at least some of the deaths.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'xQq5XjQZRsJWIuJHwlOpUA',sig:'xYsoTVIiwioHrSZjy-kJlZzIo1g7vogu2TIUi2Sdf6o=',w:'594px',h:'471px',items:'802468980',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
Given the high risk and lack of safety equipment (no harnesses or hard hats anywhere), it’s surprising that “just” five workers died during the construction of the building. Compare this to the 30 who died during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge or the over 1,200 who lost their lives during the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
As for the possibility of your everyday pedestrian being killed by a coin dropped from the roof of the Empire State Building? Nonexistent.
By Diana Bocco, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: The Fearless Daredevils Who Built The Empire State Building
April 19, 2022
Bicycle Day And Blotter Art: Celebrating The First LSD Trip
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
April 19 is a historic day in psychedelic culture. Commonly referred to as Bicycle Day, the date celebrates Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann’s discovery of the mind-bending substance called lysergic acid diethylamide — better known as LSD.
Gearing Up for a RideHofmann unknowingly synthesized LSD on November 16, 1938, while researching lysergic acid derivatives in an effort to create a respiratory and circulatory stimulant. It was set aside for five years, until Hofmann decided to take one more look at it.
While re-synthesizing the substance on April 16, 1943, Hofmann accidentally absorbed a small amount through his skin and began to experience minor, but notable, side effects. Looking to document his experiences with the drug, Hofmann decided to experiment with the effects of the substance in his lab in Basel, Switzerland.
Albert Hofmann in 1993. Credit: Philip H. Bailey via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.5).
It was on April 19, 1943, at 4:20 p.m. that Hofmann ingested his first intentional dose of LSD. However, it soon became apparent that he had taken far too much of the hallucinogen and decided that it was best to leave his lab and head back home. Unable to take a car due to wartime restrictions, Hofmann and his lab assistant took bikes instead. Low and behold, the drug’s powerful effects only increased during his bicycle journey that day.
Hofmann’s psychedelic trip became more intense as he arrived home. As the day went on and his experience grew darker, he began to believe he was possessed by a demonic entity. Experiences with his neighbor, who came by periodically to check on Hofmann’s well-being, began to take the form of a nightmare, as faces and voices distorted into dark and twisted psychedelic sounds and images.
The Light at the End of the TunnelAs the hallucinogenic experience raged on, Hofmann’s doctor came by to check on his vitals, giving him a clear pass with a notation regarding his dilated eyes and sent him off to bed to rest.
Hofmann wrote in 1983, “The horror softened and gave way to a feeling of good fortune and gratitude.” It was at this point in Hofmann’s notes that he was able to enjoy his psychedelic experience as the intensity began to fade and beautiful images, shapes, and colors began to flood his mind behind his closed eyes.
“Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me … circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains… ” – Albert Hofmann
Riding Into TraditionThe first official Bicycle Day was celebrated 42 years later, in 1985. It was founded by Thomas B. Roberts, a professor of educational psychology at Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb. Roberts chose April 19 to honor Hofmann’s first intentional exposure with LSD, and also because the 16th fell on a Tuesday in 1985 — not ideal for a psychedelic celebration.
LSD as ArtRipley’s friend, Mark McCloud, first educated us on this unusual holiday while the team was in California documenting his expansive collection. McCloud’s San Francisco home is filled with tens of thousands of LSD tabs known as blotters.
Blotter art varies from the simple to the elaborate. Courtesy of Mark McCloud – Institute of Illegal Images.
Don’t fret — the acid on McCloud’s tabs have since expired and now serve as a canvas for the intricate art they are covered in. LSD breaks down quickly in the presence of light and heat, and McCloud’s tabs are too old to give anyone ingesting them a trip. Instead, he keeps the tabs as art pieces.
Watch the video to learn more about this unique culture and McCloud’s unbelievable collection.
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Bicycle Day And Blotter Art: Celebrating The First LSD Trip
Proto-NFT? Receipt for Invisible Art From 1959 Sells For $1.2 Million
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
An undisclosed private art collector in Europe recently made more than $1 million go “Poof!” by purchasing a receipt for invisible artwork at auction. The sale of the receipt, conducted by Sotheby’s, was initially expected to max out at €500,000 EUR (around $551,000 USD), but that was before the bidding frenzy began. Once the air cleared, the top offer sat at in incredible €1,063,500 EUR — or $1,151,467.40 USD!
The invisible artwork and receipt were created by French artist Yves Klein, who turned out to be a man well ahead of his time. In a sense, you could say he dabbled in NFTs before NFTs were cool (or even existed). And since computers still took up entire buildings when he achieved fame in the mid-20th-century, the notion of selling an artistic concept that could never be physically (let alone digitally) possessed proved highly innovative and provocative.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'u8GylMXJSblLrz1ep7duNQ',sig:'AzZB1-5DADdPy10F4ZW3hZ7z-iRRTJ0jql0IXoCvL38=',w:'594px',h:'381px',items:'1388934801',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
After all, owning NFTs comes with bragging rights, and the same can be said of the imaginative zones “crafted” by Klein. Here’s what you need to know about the million-dollar auction and the art behind it.
An Artist With an Invisible VisionArt collectors generally want to leave auctions with the pieces they bid on in hand (or at least in transit with a hefty dose of insurance). But for those who appreciate the work of Yves Klein, the masterpieces came in the form of the sales transaction itself.
Klein created an innovative and entirely imaginative series known as Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility. The series included an artist’s book and a performance by Klein with each receipt. He created eight of these so-called “zones” from 1959 until his death on June 6, 1962. If you’re wondering how Klein verified the existence of invisible artwork, you’re far from alone. Interestingly, he used a ritualized method.
Verifying the UnverifiableEach time an art collector bought one of Klein’s imaginary zones, the artist went through an elaborate ritual with the buyer. Consider it performance art. He gifted the recipient with a receipt for the work, a verification of the invisible piece’s existence. It was unusual, but some people dug the idea, especially in the increasingly experimental ’60s.
After purchasing one of Klein’s works, buyers followed the “Ritual Rules.” These rules included choosing one of two paths. One, the collector could pay the amount Klein asked for the artwork in gold and keep the receipt. This choice meant they didn’t receive the immaterial artwork’s value. Two, they could pay in gold and burn the receipt. Klein would then throw half the gold in the Seine River, resulting in a successful “exchange” of the authentic immaterial value.
Yves Klein, “Zone de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle” (The Ritual for a Zone of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility) with Dino Buzzati, Seine, Paris, 1962 January. Copyright J. Paul Getty Trust.
Discovering the VoidWas there an ultimate point to the ritual? According to Klein, the performance communicated art’s incalculable, indefinable value. But the implications of the ritual ran even deeper. During his career, he had become obsessed with the concept of the void, which he translated through his imagination into priceless immaterial zones.
He wrote, “Finding it unacceptable to sell these immaterial zones for money, I insisted in exchange for the highest quality of the immaterial, the highest quality of material payment — a bar of pure gold.” This would lead some in the press to accuse Klein of selling little more than air.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'xDdJfKINQqhZSsTa7N17hA',sig:'kO1RjY90TCQ7y64s_sCIZdcXchw21jjd4oP-KQvoFPY=',w:'594px',h:'466px',items:'52270375',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});
Awareness of Time and SpaceBut not everyone saw it this way. According to Michael Blankfort, a Hollywood writer who purchased one of Klein’s imaginary zones, “No other experience in art [could] equal the depth of feeling of [the sale ceremony]. It evoked in me a shock of self-recognition and an explosion of awareness of time and space.”
As with all art, the beauty and worth of Klein’s invisible artworks remain in the eye of the beholder. But the fact is, few receipts for his artwork survived because most people burned theirs. This either makes Klein one of the coolest concept artists of the 20th century or one of the best receipt marketers in history as the Sotheby’s auction attests.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Proto-NFT? Receipt for Invisible Art From 1959 Sells For $1.2 Million
Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
- Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s profile
- 52 followers
