The show is full of uniquely designed display situated throughout the Mall, showcasing a first ever in South Africa. Enthusiasts – can look forward to more than 140 artifacts displayed in 16 distinctively designed themed areas. This thought-provoking Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Exhibition not only promises to entertain visitors to Jubilee Mall but also allows for interactivity and ample photo opportunities.
About the Iconic Mr. Ripley:
The foundation of the Ripley collection was set by Robert L. Ripley (1890–1949), a cartoonist, explorer, reporter, adventurer, and collector, who traveled to 201 countries in 35 years, seeking the odd, the unusual, and the unexplained.
He was nicknamed “The Modern Marco Polo”, and in his endless search for unbelievable stories to draw in his immensely popular newspaper cartoon feature, he acquired hundreds of exotic artifacts from around the world.
Ripley’s first Believe It or Not! books – collections of his newspaper cartoon drawings – appeared in 1929 and 1931, at a time when he was receiving millions of letters each year.
The success of the first book led to a live radio show. Starting in 1930, and running continuously until 1944, Ripley hosted a wildly successful weekly radio show. The show continued briefly in 1947–48, but by that time he was already experimenting with the new medium of television.
Based loosely on his successful radio show format, Ripley displayed some of his artifacts, drew cartoons on camera, and re-enacted fantastic unbelievable stories, followed by interviews with the actual “stars” of the stories.
Ripley’s television show was the first “reality” show, and was growing in popularity until his thirteenth show on May 23, 1949, when he had a heart attack, while on stage discussing the military funeral hymn “Taps”.
The majority of his artifacts were sold at a four day long public auction, and the lion’s share was bought up by New York City entrepreneur John Arthur.
In December 1950 Mr. Arthur opened the first permanent Ripley’s Believe It or Not!® Odditorium in St. Augustine, Florida, USA.
The Ripley’s Collection:
The Ripley collection represents over 95 years of collecting by Robert Ripley and his corporate heirs.
The foundation of the more than 25,000 piece collection was gathered and assembled by Ripley himself, on his many travels around the world, but the Ripley’s Entertainment staff today continues to add new pieces to the collection, almost daily.
There are exhibits from the microscopic world, and the worlds of science and computer technologies; plus artifacts that have been flown in space, including flags flown on the moon, and meteorites from Mars!
Ripley was intrigued with animal oddities, poor creatures dealt strange fates by Mother Nature. He called them “pranks of nature.” The Ripley collection today includes a horse with three legs, two-headed calves, pigs, rabbits, turtles and kittens. We have albinos, giant snakes and alligators, a whole menagerie of multi-winged and multi-limbed birds, and even a headless chicken!
Ripley’s favourite obsession was the Far East. For more than twenty five years, he dedicated himself to exploring the ancient cultures of the Orient. In doing so, he gave many Westerners their first glimpse into an exotic world they would never experience firsthand. Amongst Ripley’s most exotic treasures are fascinating cultural artifacts acquired in the primitive outposts of civilization, rare objects like decorated cannibal skulls and shrunken heads.
Every Ripley Odditorium houses a gallery of fine art, including wall paintings, mosaics and three-dimensional sculptures. At Ripley’s, however, the artist’s medium is often more remarkable than the actual artwork. Many of Ripley’s best artwork has been created from unusual things, including ordinary household objects like popsicle sticks, cigarette wrappers, dog hair, black beans, jelly beans, laundry lint, toast, toothpicks and match sticks!
The collection covers everything from history, to zoology, to geography, art, sports, politics, celebrities, dinosaurs and even outer space.