Monday, August 11, 2008

Ripley's Belive It Or Not! Brochures

Believe it or not I'm back... (well I don't think I was missed very much)

Anyway to keep this blog from turning into a ghost blog I bring you some vintage brochures for the Ripley's Believe In Or Not Museums.

Here's one for the Museum in St. Augustine, Florida...

And here's one for the museum at Niagara Falls...

As you can see they both use virtually the same layouts. The use of the "Four-Eyed" man's eyes is certainly eye catching (no pun intended). But featuring the Lincoln Memorial and Lincoln's Log Cabin made of pennies so prominently on the covers was a mistake. I mean come on, they're just not that impressive, and almost looks like a rainy day craft project.

I visited the Ripley's museum in St. Augustine as a child. I don't really remember very much about it. But the image of the Four-Eyed Man from China is unforgettable. I remember thinking as a kid that he was some sort of monster. Just look at how they sculpted his wax figure...

Damn that's one scary-ass dude!

He looks so angry. But I'm sure living with an eye deformity like that was not very fun.