Weird and Wonderful
The strangest piece of your Day!
Robert Ripley: The man of Adventure!
On December 25, in the year of 1880 (yes Christmas day) a star was born. A star, that seemed to have a passion for the strange wonders of our world and beyond. This star was Robert LeRoy Ripley. Ripley started out as a cartoonist, entrepreneur, curator and anthropologist. He became most known from his television, radio, book and newspaper series all entitled “Ripley’s Believe it or Not.” Today he lays peacefully at Oddfellows cemetery, in Santa Rosa California, his birthplace. Follow our story today and get the inside scoops of this interesting man’s life. Every big and little adventure that the explorer Ripley himself encountered. You might not believe what you hear!
The subjects he covered in his early career weren’t as thrilling as his later in life expeditions. In 1908, he moved to San Francisco and worked as a sports cartoonist until 1913. He then left San Francisco and moved to New York where his new position was working at The Globe. He there started the classic brand name none of us could ever forget “Believe it or Not.” Where he showcased odd, exciting and interesting facts from around the world. By doing so, he introduced a new type of entertainment to the world and a new found interest and point of view to those around him. His first trip around the world took place in 1922, as he wanted to expand his cartoon opportunities. About a year after, Ripley hired Norbert Pearlroth a researcher and scientist, as his personal assistant to help him work on his evening columns for The Globe. His career sky rocketed by 1929, for he was hired at Hearst Kings Features Syndicate( recommended by a good friend/ wealthy famous publisher, William Randolph Hearst)and the great Simon and Schuster published a book of one of his cartoons. Not sure which one? It was “Believe it or Not” of course. His publications with Simons and Schuster’s were a big hit with over 500,000 copies selling within the first six months. Ripley seemed to have the whole world in the palm of his hand. Becoming very popular Ripley received more mail then the president of the United States. He really needed this success for only three years ago in 1926 he had gone through a divorce with his wife Beatrice Roberts. Who was a beautiful and popular actress. They were married for a brief five years, and that was Ripley’s only marriage.
