Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 95
March 30, 2022
Was Your Furby Spying On You?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In the late ’90s, a weirdly wonderful robotic creature took the world by storm. A mashup of an owl and hamster, the Furby responded to physical touch with coos, gibberish, and expressive facial gestures. Over 40 million Furbies were sold in just three years after its initial production, spurring a Beanie Baby–esque global craze.
But beneath the Furby fervor lurked some well-founded fear. While both children and adults alike were falling head-over-heels for Furbies, others were leery about a lifelike toy that you could never switch off. This spurred many Furby-related conspiracies, including that the robo-pet was teaching kids bad words, interfering with flight equipment, and was even an international spy.
So, are Furbies harmless friends or spying foes?
The Secret Life of Furby SpiesOne of the most widespread Furby conspiracies was that the creature was actually an international spy. In 1999, the National Security Agency (NSA) banned the polyester chatterboxes from offices because it believed Furbies could repeat or record conversations about sensitive information. The NSA even circulated its own internal memo, reminding staff that recording devices of any kind were strictly prohibited: “This includes toys, such as ‘Furbies,’ with built-in recorders that repeat the audio with synthesized sound to mimic the original signal.”
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The panic got so bad that Roger Shiffman, owner of Furby-manufacturer, Tiger Electronics, issued a statement saying, “Although Furby is a clever toy, it does not record or mimic voices. The NSA did not do their homework. Furby is not a spy!”
One reason people believed this particular narrative was that the Gremlin-like toys “learned” their human companion’s dialect. And we use the term “learn” very loosely. Furbies came pre-programmed with 700 to 800 words. While they only spoke their native language (Furbish) straight out of the box, more interactions would unlock more real words.
In actuality, Furbies couldn’t learn or record anything. Dave Hampton, the creator of Furby, even demonstrated that the puppet’s microphone didn’t record any sounds, and could only hear a single, repetitive beep if a noise was made close to the Furby. No waveforms or words could be made out at all.
Were Our Furby Fears Founded?In a time when most of us have an eavesdropping device by our side 24/7, it seems silly to be scared of furry spies. However, surveillance capitalism is a very real thing, and your personal information is being mined and sold every day.
While this type of technology didn’t exist 30 years ago, we still have deep concerns about our personal privacy. While Furbies probably weren’t spying on us, your smartphone sure is.
By Steph Weaver, 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: Was Your Furby Spying On You?
March 29, 2022
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March 25, 2022
The Good And The Gross Of Jiggly Gelatin Salads
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
From medieval delicacies to college party novelties, Jell-O has been a staple in households across the U.S. for decades. However, our grandparents had a slightly different relationship with the popular powdered gelatin than what we grew up on. So what is it about this slimy, jiggly substance that has earned the title of “America’s Most Famous Dessert”?
Treats for the ElitesThe primary ingredient in Jell-O is gelatin, which was first served in the Middle Ages and considered a status symbol of the wealthy due to the arduous extraction process. The process was “not for the faint-hearted,” explains Lynne Belluscio, executive director of the LeRoy Historical Society, who operates the Jell-O Gallery Museum in New York.
Before the rise of the industrial revolution, gelatin had to be created by hand with collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of certain animals — usually cows, horses, or pigs — before cooling into that iconic jelly-like, semi-solid substance. So if you could fund a large cooking staff back in the day to accomplish all of this, it meant you had the wealth to do so — another reason as to why only the privileged partook in this jellied delicacy.
Eighteenth-century London author Hannah Glasse wrote out the procedure in the 1747 edition of her book, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy:
“Take out the great Bones of four Calves Feet, and put the Feet into a Pot with ten Quarts of Water, three Ounces of Hartshorn, three Ounces of Isinglass, a Nutmeg quarter’d, four Blades of Mace; then boil this till it comes to two Quarts, and strain it through a Flannel-Bag, let it stand twenty-four Hours, then scrape all the Fat from the Top very clean, then slice it, and put to it the Whites of six Eggs beaten to Froth, boil it a little, and strain it again through a Flannel-Bag, then run the Jelly into little high Glasses…You may add Orange-flower Water, or Wine and Sugar, and Lemon if you please, but this is all Fancy.”
Definitely seems a heck of a lot harder (and messier, and grosser) than just adding water to the premade powder mixes…
The Genius of GelatinThe instant gelatin we know and love today appeared in the late 1890s. A man by the name of Pearle Wait in LeRoy, New York, was experimenting with gelatin to make more palatable versions of his cough syrups and laxative teas. During this process, he discovered the delicious combination of fruit and gelatin, which his wife dubbed “Jell-O.” He ended up selling the trademark in 1899 for $450 to someone with more experience in marketing and manufacturing, and the rest is history.
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Just a few years later in 1902, sales reached $250,000 (equivalent to more than $8 million today) thanks to a successful advertising campaign. The previously handmade product was now produced in a specialized factory, turning collagen into gelatin, and then drying and grounding that gelatin into the powder we’re most familiar with. The first flavors produced were orange, lemon, strawberry, and raspberry.
Gelatin… Salad?The popularity of Jell-O continued to grow into the early to mid-1900s, with even famed American painter Norman Rockwell getting in on the action with ads he painted for the brand. Thanks to the advances in home economics made during the Industrial Revolution, homemakers were ready and willing to use their fancy new appliances.
Norman Rockwell, 1922. Courtesy University of Michigan Library
Instant gelatin fit this mold — no pun intended. It was fast, economical, and mess free! Housewives would often stretch the family leftovers by encasing them in gelatin, which would cut their clean up time in half.
The versatility of Jell-O peaked in the 1950s to ’70s with flavors such as mixed vegetables, celery, seasoned tomato, and Italian salad, making it a go-to dish for family dinners or large gatherings. One of the most famous Jell-O dishes from back in the day was a lime cheese salad which included cottage cheese, mayonnaise, seafood, and — of course — lime Jell-O. The recipe opportunities were endless, just toss in some meat and/or veggies and watch in awe as they bounce around suspended in a layer of Jell-O.
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The Downfall of Jiggly DinnersThe popularity of savory Jell-O salads plummeted after the ’70s, thanks in part to nutrition campaigns that highlighted the dangers of eating too much sugar, relegating gelatin to the dessert aisle it continues to live in today. In this episode of Believe It or Not! Bites, we recreate some of these retro (and somewhat revolting) recipes. Bon appétit!
By Michela Pantano, 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!London Recruits Justin and Sigourney Beaver To Save City
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
It’s been 400 years since beavers were hunted out of London, but with waters on the rise due to climate change, it’s their time to shine once more — beginning with the reintroduction of Sigourney and Justin Beaver.
Dam-med If They Don’tMarch 17 marked the return of the beaver at Enfield’s Forty Hall Farm, two years after Enfield Council and London Climate Change Partnership nailed down a plan to help alleviate major flash flooding that has pained the city in recent years.
Though generally known as a rainy city, London’s downpours have gone from gloomy to grim, with LCCP’s deputy chair Bob Ward expressing concern that the city’s flood risk has turned life-threatening.
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According to a July 2021 report, the city experienced more than the total month’s average rain on several individual days. Along with flooding more than 1,000 homes, the influx of water forced hospital and train station closures.
“There is now a real risk of people drowning, particularly in basement flats if a major flash flood occurred in the middle of the night,” Ward told the Observer.
From Hunted to HeroesDespite their ancestors being hunted to near-extinction for their coats and musk during the days of Billy Shakespeare, two chosen beavers — a male from a similar project in Yorkshire and a wild Scottish female, temporarily named Justin Beaver and Sigourney Beaver — have made a comeback as the key to the city’s plan to mitigate the flooding.
We’re not sure how Hailey will feel about this, but the Council hopes Sigourney and Justin will immediately get to work making beaver babies who can help them build an empire of dams, chomp down trees, and bring some new wildlife neighbors to the area.
If all goes as planned, these new habitats will ultimately slow down and filter the wetland waters, reducing flooding downstream.
The Secretion to SuccessIf beavers are so usefully ecologically, why would anyone want to hunt them? To put it simply: their sweet butts!
If you ever find yourself wandering the woods and get a whiff of vanilla, it’s likely the mark of a beaver. They mark their territory by leaving behind castoreum, a gooey secretion found in their castor sacs, which happen to be located right next to their anal glands. What sets beavers apart from other animals is that rather than emitting a putrid smell that sends humans running, their signature scent is that of musky vanilla, perfect for bottling.
Though less common these days, for over 80 years, the sweet secretion of the beaver was squeezed from its tushy and used in imitation vanilla, beauty products, and even whiskey.
Beaver musk is recognized as safe by the FDA, but due to the ick factor of how it’s retrieved, is typically listed as “natural flavor.”
Beaver FeverThe celebration of Justin and Sigourney’s release into the enclosure was pretty sweet itself, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan joining on the festivities with a video posted on Twitter.
Great to see @EnfieldCouncil welcome beavers to their wetlands as part of a series of projects designed to help rewild the area. 🦫
Today City Hall has awarded £600,000 from our Rewild London Fund to projects across our city that will help restore nature.pic.twitter.com/WDcNHubrob
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 17, 2022
Naturally, Justin Beaver made a splash immediately upon being released from his carrier, diving straight into his new pond. Sigourney was a bit more reserved, needing to be coaxed out before eventually entering a shallow stream and making way to meet her new beau.
For all you Beav-lievers out there, there are plans for a public “beaver cam” to go live once the duo has had time to bond.
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: London Recruits Justin and Sigourney Beaver To Save City
March 24, 2022
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