red seal
“The red seal stamped on documents by the head of the taoist sect of China is believed capable of protecting them from evil spirits”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
The bones of the garfish
“The bones of the garfish are a vivid green—cooking makes them even greener”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
bells and gold and silver coins
“Persian girls dancing in village celebrations attach to the ends of their long tresses bells and gold and silver coins”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
the sacred colors of the Tibetans
“The monastery of Potala in Lhasa, Tibet, is painted white, red and brown—the sacred colors of the Tibetans”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
The Silver Pavilion
“The Silver Pavilion of Kyoto, Japan, built in 1483, was constructed without the use of silver . . . it was planned to cover it with silver but it was never done”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
The green wine of Minho
“The green wine of Minho Portugal, comes from grapes that are shaded by trees around the trunks of which the vines grow to a heigh of 30 feet”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
white paper hats
“Japanese brides wear white paper hats to assure marital fidelity and an absence of jealousy”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
A white feather
“A white feather worn by a Papuan native, identifies him as a hero who has killed a man in battle”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
White clay
“White clay in the shape of a snake, is placed outside a village by the Kaondes of Aftrica, to guard against malaria”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
a deck of fifty-two cards
“When the Chinese invented paper around 200 B.C. . . . the first uses they found for it were as writing material, money, and playing cards. All three applications spread along trade routes, especially to places where divination and gambling with straws, beads, and pebbles (called lots, as in lottery) were already common. Since card games could be made more complex than the casting of lots, they tended to appeal to more literate cultures. Once priests, scribes, and warriors took up cards, they were further disseminated, along with the means to produce them, via conquest. . . . Christian crusaders and Venetian merchants eventually brought cards back to Europe, where Spaniards and Italians began playing with forty-card decks, and Germans made do for a while with thirty-six. By the early fourteenth century . . . Persians had developed a deck of fifty-two cards arranged in four suits, each with ten numerical ranks and three hand-painted court cards. The suits were Coins, Cups, Swords, and Polo Sticks, emblematic of the officers providing a sultan’s court with money, food and drink, military protection, and sporting entertainment. As these and similar decks made their way to Italy, polo sticks became scepters or cudgels, which eventually turned into our clubs.”
—James McManus, from Positively Fifth Street, 2003.