Voting will take place on Friday, April 13, during the first night of the 10-day Congress of Curious Peoples, sponsored by Coney Island USA.
“It is due time Rip makes it into the hall of fame, after narrowly missing it the last two years,” said Tim O’Brien, VP Communications for Ripley Entertainment Inc. “We are going all out this year and plan to pull all the punches we can to make sure he gets elected.”
Ripley, who lived and worked in New York City from the time he was 23, created his first Believe It or Not! cartoon for the New York Globe in 1918, published his first Believe It or Not! book in 1929, opened the city’s first Believe It or Not! museum in 1939 and operated the Odditorium at the New York World’s Fair in 1940.
He also starred in his own radio show and later his own television show – being a pioneer in both mediums – all while living in New York.
Today, the country’s largest Believe It or Not! Odditorum operates in New York City’s Times Square. “We are proudly carrying on the Ripley tradition on a daily basis,” said Michael Hirsch of the New York Odditorium. “Ripley would be proud of what we are doing, and we are working hard to get him into the Hall of Fame, he certainly deserves it.”
The opening night event, being sponsored by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! will feature a show by the Lizardman, a popular entertainer at Ripley’s odditoriums worldwide. His show will be followed by nominating speeches and then the official vote.
Ripley’s is taking no chances this year and is having its own voting process, beginning on April 1 on the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Facebook pages. For 13 days, fans can vote for Ripley and at the same time become eligible for Believe It or Not! prize packages. Voting results will then be presented to the judges on April 13 in an attempt to persuade them of Ripley’s popularity.
The Hall of Fame ceremonies will take place in the Freak Bar of Coney Island USA, located at 1208 Surf Avenue in Brooklyn. (718) 372-5159 . Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square is located at 234 W. 42nd Street in Manhattan. (212) 398-3133 .