Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium on 42nd Street in Manhattan will host the first stop of a three year, multi-city tour of the world famous Ripley's Fertility Statues!
"Please Don't Touch - Unless You Want a Baby!"
More than 2,000 women have reported they became pregnant shortly after touching the wooden statues. Many of them had been told by doctors they would never be able to conceive! Since the women’s stories became public in 1994, millions have visited the statues.
Beginning Aug. 26, the statues will be on display for a three-month engagement in the lobby of Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Times Square. Would-be parents are invited to come in and touch them for FREE during regular business hours.
The five-foot tall wooden statues were acquired from the Ivory Coast (Coted'Ivoire ) of West Africa in 1994, and were placed in the lobby of Ripley Entertainment's corporate headquarters in Orlando. Within months, 13 women, including staffers and office visitors were pregnant.
Following a December 1996 story in the Wall Street Journal chronicling the phenomenon, the demand to touch them became international news. In the ensuing years, the edifices made three trips around the world, stopping at Believe It or Not! museums, allowing millions easy and free access. They were retired to the Ripley warehouse in 2001, but due to great demand, they were put on display at the Ripley headquarters in Orlando where they have been seen by hundreds each month who made a special pilgrimage to see and touch the statues.
"For years now, we have been inundated with requests to make these statues available once again at our odditoriums throughout the world," said Edward Meyer, VP Archives & Exhibits for Ripley Entertainment. "Amazingly, people are still finding out about them and call us wanting an opportunity to come in and touch them. Due to this demand, we have decided to tour them again."
After New York City, the statues will spend a month each at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in Grand Prairie Texas and Williamsburg, Va. They will begin 2009 in Branson, Mo.
About Ripley Entertainment, Inc. (http://www.ripleys.com/) is a leading global attractions company with annual attendance of more than 13 million. In addition to its 60-plus attractions, the Orlando-based company has publishing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the globally syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley's Believe It or Not! that still runs daily in 200 newspapers in 42 countries. There are now 30 Ripley's Believe It or Not!® odditoriums (including NYC) in operation. The unique attractions feature exhibits that one must see to believe - exhibits that are so bizarre, so odd, so strange, that even the most worldly and knowledgeable guests will be awestruck.
Contact:
Tim O'Brien
VP Communications, Ripley Entertainment
Obrien@ripleys.com
615-646-7465 - office
615-496-5949 - cell
