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Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Archive

Alexandre Patty

Alexandre Patty: The Man Who Walked on His Head and Headed Straight for Global Fame

Human Oddities
clock-eyed boy

The Time the Clock-Eyed Boy Had His Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Human Oddities
Carhenge in Tim O'Brien's Roadside Pics & Picks

Roadside Attractions and Other Curiosities with Ambassador of Odd, Tim O’Brien

Books
Wax figure of Hannah Beswick at Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Amsterdam.

The Strange Afterlife of the Eccentric Hannah Beswick

Human Oddities
An ad for Clarence Willard, "The Man Who Grows," in the National Vaudeville Artists annual, 1925.

The Man Who Grows Reached the Height of Vaudeville and Astounded Scientists

Human Oddities
Shridhar Chillal's fingernails, on display at the New York Ripley's Believe It Or Not! in Times Square. Photo by Marc Hartzman.

A Work of Human Art 66 Years in the Making

Human Oddities

Brief Notes on Martin Laurello, the Human Owl

Human Oddities
Agnes the Rubber Skin Lady and other performers, including: signed photos from Frieda Pushnik; a little person, Major Small; and John Williams, the Alligator-Skin Boy. Photo courtesy of Dori Ann Bischmann, PhD

Inside the Never-Before-Seen Scrapbook of the Rubber Skin Lady, a 1930s-era Sideshow Star

Human Oddities
Roy Bard and Orphan Ensign, Ossified People at the 1934 Ripley's Odditorium. Postcard from the Marc Hartzman collection.

A Short History of the Exhibition of Ossified People

Human Oddities
Lazarus-Johannes Baptista Colloredo. Image from Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, 1896.

The Wonderful and Eccentric Lazarus Colloredo and his Parasitic Twin

Books, Human Oddities
A pitchbook sold by Medusa Van Allen.

Medusa Van Allen: The Woman Who Couldn’t Grow

Human Oddities
Dan Meyer, sword swallower.

Celebrate a Death-Defying Art: World Sword Swallower’s Day

Human Oddities, Science
Human horns on 101-year-old Zhang Ruifang

A Brief and Rather Unpleasant History of Human Horns

Human Oddities, Science
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