Ripley's World of the Unexplained 1972-1985

 

Hey Legend Trippers, early on I showed you the International Cryptozoology museum and the Museum of the Weird. These great places featured attractions and exhibits based on the mysterious and the unexplained. Basically a legend tripper’s Graceland. Did you know that in from 1972 and 1985’s Ripley’s had a museum that dealt with the unexplained? I actually wrote the entry for Wikipedia on the museums and this is what it says:

This is an old post card before it was renamed "World of the Unexplained".

 

The World of the Unexplained were two museums, opened in 1972 by Ripley's Believe It or Not!, one at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco (37°48′29″N 122°24′55″W) and one in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, originally called "Museum of Witchcraft and Magic". Ripley's had acquired the late Gerald B. Gardner's collection of witchcraft items from Wiccan Monique Wilson, and displayed them in the museums. In 1975, Due to pressure from the local churches and religious groups in the area, Ripley's changed their names to "World of the Unexplained" and re-outfitted them with new attractions. With the popularity of the television show "In Search Of", Ripley's hired the show's narrator, Leonard Nimoy, to film a short introduction to visitors at the entrance to the museums. The museums displayed not only witchcraft attractions but new ones that featured Bigfoot, flying saucers, the Bermuda Triangle, werewolves, and a fortune teller with a talking crystal ball. In 1985 the museums closed down for good, due to poor ticket sales. Ripley’s' relocated all the attractions to other Ripley's Odditoriums around the US. The Gatlinburg location is no longer operated by Ripley's. The building in San Francisco is a Ripley’s' Believe It or Not Odditorium.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_the_Unexplained_museum



Back in 1976, we were staying with my Uncle Ray and his family at Pine Bluff, Arkansas while my father was in Korea. When he returned and got us, we were traveled from there up to Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Along the way we stopped at a visitor’s center in Tennessee. I was looking at some of the travel brochures, when one caught my eye. The brochure advertised a museum attraction called “World of the Unexplained” in Gatlinburg. Being interested in unexplained mysteries, I immediately picked it up and started thumbing through it. To my surprise, I discovered a picture showing a young nude witch, a very attractive young witch. Being an inquisitive little twelve year old, I just had to see this exhibit. Once we got back on the road, I started going on and on about my interest in the unexplained and how great it would be to visit this attraction. Of course, I made no mention of the young witch exhibit, knowing darn well my mother would have put a halt to the conversation right there and never allow us to go see it. At first, my parents said no, but then my dad after thinking about it, stated that our route would take us through Gatlinburg and it would be a good place to stop for lunch.

 

When we arrived in Gatlinburg,  I was excited to see that the museum was located right at the beginning of Main Street. Also, I could now see why my dad wanted to stop here. Gatlinburg in nestled in the Great Smoking mountains. It was beautiful, everywhere you looked. After driving my parents both crazy, they said I could go, but I had to take my little brother with me. My brother Tim was only nine years old at the time, and didn't really care about the unexplained, but he was just happy to get out of the car and walk around after the long journey. He was still pissed at me for talking him into purchasing a "Pet Rock" at a tourist stop, so I didn't tell him about all the scarey exhibits the museum held. My parents decided to walk around and look at some of the thousand stores Gatlinburg had, and to meet them back at the car.

 

Now the front of the museum itself didn’t really look like what I imagined it should. I don't know what it should look like, but it reminded me of a department store. No matter, when we came to the entrance, we observed a large television showing Leonard Nimoy, from the “In Search Of” show, telling you what fantastic things to see inside. He referred to the attraction as the Unexplained World. I guess the museum went through some name changes, when the video was being made. I quickly got our tickets and ushered my brother in before he could watch all of the video. To my delight, at the beginning of the museum was a life size statue of Bigfoot. Unfortunately we both didn’t have a camera to capture the visit. We walked through and marveled at some of the really neat exhibits like a werewolf, a crashed flying saucer display and a moving séance table. The great part was that my brother was not the least bit scared and enjoyed it as well. They even had a fortune teller with a crystal ball, which features talking head inside. Very much like the Haunted Mansion attraction. When we got to the naked witch display, I was not disappointed. I gazed at this beautiful wax statue, and declared to her my undying love. But then out of nowhere my parents appeared. They had decided last minute to go visit the museum. When my mother saw the young witch, She ordered my brother and I, away from the exhibit. My dad got to stay and look at it more closely.



 

When we came to the end, the museum had a magic store. Sadly, the only paraphernalia that related to the museum was a guide book, pennant, post cards, and a good luck coin. I still have the brochure (with the naked witch), the guide book, two post cards, and the coin. I’m always on the lookout for the pennant and post cards. Interestingly enough, I remember all the postcards we purchased still saying “Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, its former name. Aside from the naked witch, I loved everything about that museum and I will never forget it.  I was sad to hear that it closed in 1986 due to low ticket sales. As you can see it has left a lasting impression on me. And this was only the beginning of my trek to becoming a legend tripper. If any of you visited the musem and have pictures or stories, I would love to hear them.