Press Release Summary = New York City will welcome back the spirit of Robert Ripley next month with the opening of Ripley\'s Believe It or Not!(R) Times Square Odditorium. The opening marks the return of Ripley to New York, his home for more than 30 years, and to the city that proved that truth can be stranger than fiction. Ripley\'s Times Square will house the ultimate in the odd and bizarre, as well as items that are truly New York ranging from 24 shrunken heads to a section of the Berlin Wall, a 3,197 lb. meteorite and Babe Ruth\'s \"Believe It or Not\'s\" New York team baseball uniform. The Odditorium officially opens on June 21.
Press Release Body = \"New York City is one of the most amazing cities in the world and it\'s easy to see why Robert Ripley made the Big Apple his home,\" said Bob Masterson, President, Ripley Entertainment Inc. \"We are thrilled to bring Believe It or Not! back to the city where, in 1918, Ripley coined that now famous phrase. Ripley\'s Times Square Odditorium will house the greatest collection of unbelievable odd and unusual items ever assembled under one roof, from this world and beyond! This fantastic collection captures the essence of Mr. Ripley, the eccentric collector who proved to the world that truth could indeed be stranger than fiction.\"
Robert Ripley\'s New York
Robert Leroy Ripley, an icon in the world of cartoon art, the first person to be elected to the Trivia Hall of Fame, and the founder of an entertainment empire based on the premise that \"truth can be stranger than fiction,\" first came to New York from San Francisco in 1913 at the age of 23. Working as an illustrator in San Francisco, Ripley was encouraged by his friend Jack London to go to New York and pursue his baseball dream or at least make more money from his drawings. He landed a job as an illustrator with the New York Globe and in 1914 he tried out for the New York Giants - and made the team! Unfortunately, in his very first game with the Giants, he broke his pitching arm. With his baseball career over, Ripley returned to his job at the Globe and to living a full and rich New York City life including marrying a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl, living in a 28-room stone mansion on a private island off Mamaroneck and hosting grand parties during prohibition that would dazzle even the most jaded New Yorker.
The Ripley\'s Times Square Highlights
Like the Ripley\'s Believe It or Not! Attractions around the globe, each item inside Ripley\'s Times Square will appeal to man\'s basic curiosity and desire to know more about this world ... and New York City. Guests will find only authentic, original and unbelievable exhibits in the Times Square odditorium, including locks of hair that belonged to Elvis Presley, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George Washington, Ripley\'s collection of Olympic torches, and animal oddities including a two-headed calf, a six-legged cow and an albino giraffe! Some other key exhibits will include:
Shrunken Heads
The Museum will feature Ripley\'s collection of 24 shrunken heads that were the spoils of war for the Jivaro Indians of Ecuador. Believe it or not, Ripley\'s Times Square will boast more shrunken heads on display than the American Museum of Natural History.
\"The Believe It or Not\'s\" Baseball Uniforms
On May 5, 1939 in Madison Square Garden, Robert Ripley led a band of celebrities called the \"Believe It or Not\'s\" to the plate against an equally elite team called the Nine Old Men, led by radio and newspaper journalist Lowell Thomas, to benefit the Boys Club of New York. In total, more than 60 celebrities played for the two teams, including two of the greatest baseball players of all time, pitcher Walter Johnson, and heavy hitter Babe Ruth. Also playing for Ripley\'s team were boxing champion Jack Dempsey, comedians Jimmy Durante, Bugs Baer and W. C. Fields, actors George Raft and Al Jolson, World War I Hero and founder of Eastern Airlines, Eddie Rickenbacker, and billionaire William Randolph Hearst, Jr.
3,197-lb. Meteorite
Found in Guangxi, Nantan County, China in 1958, Ripley\'s Times Square Odditorium will house a giant 3,197-lb. meteorite that fell to earth during the Ming Dynasty on June 11, 1529. Composed of 92% iron, the meteorite will be the third largest Nantan meteorite on display anywhere in the world.
About Ripley Entertainment
Ripley Entertainment, Inc. (http://www.ripleys.com/) is a leading global attractions company with annual attendance of more than 13 million. In addition to its 60-plus attractions, the Orlando-based company has publishing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the globally syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley\'s Believe It or Not! that still runs daily in 200 newspapers in 42 countries. There are now 30 Ripley\'s Believe It or Not!(R) museums (including NYC) in operation with another to open in late 2007 in India. The unique attractions feature exhibits that one must see to believe - exhibits that are so bizarre, so odd, so strange, that even the most worldly and knowledgeable guests will be awestruck!
About Big Apple Entertainment Partners LLC
Big Apple Entertainment Partners LLC is a franchisee of Ripley Entertainment, Inc. formed to develop and operate the Ripley\'s Times Square Odditorium. Big Apple Entertainment Partners LLC is controlled by Carni Development Group LLC, an investment vehicle established for the purpose of making investments in entertainment properties worldwide.
Web Site = http://www.blooloop.com/news-details/Ripleys-Triumphant-Return-to-New-York!.asp
Contact Details = CONTACT: Judee Sidorsky of PMK-HBH, +1-212-373-6135, judee.sidorsky@pmkhbh.com; or Tim O\'Brien of Ripley Entertainment Inc., +1-615-646-7465, obrien@ripleys.com
Web sites: http://www.ripleystimessquare.com/ http://www.ripleys.com/
2022
