|
Niagara Falls, ON. -
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Odditorium in Niagara Falls
will host the return of the
world-famous Ripley's
Fertility Statues for public
viewing from September 4 to
September 26.
Please Don't Touch - Unless You
Want a Baby!
More than 2,000 women have
reported that they became
pregnant shortly after touching
the wooden statues. Many of them
had been told by doctors they
would never be able to
conceive. Some are very serious
about touching the statues,
believing in their powers to
help them conceive. Others want
to avoid touching the statues -
for the very same reason!
The five-foot tall wooden
statues were acquired from the
Ivory Coast of West Africa in
1993 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.
The Real American Idols
Following a December 1995 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.
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
women routinely made special
visits just to see and touch the
statues.
"For years, we were inundated with requests to make these
statues available once again, so
we've brought them out of
retirement and they are proving
to be very popular during this
world tour," said Edward Meyer,
VP of Archives & Exhibits for
Ripley Entertainment.
The statues are back in the U.S.
after wrapping up the European
leg of their three-year world
tour. They have been seen by
thousands of people during
crowd-pleasing stops at the
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
museums in New York's Times
Square, Grand Prairie, Texas,
Williamsburg, Virginia, Orlando,
Florida, Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina, Wisconsin Dells,
Wisconsin, San Francisco,
California, London, Blackpool,
England, St. Augustine, Florida,
Newport, Oregon, San Antonio,
Texas, Branson, Missouri,
Atlantic City, New Jersey, Ocean
City, Maryland and Gatlinburg,
Tennessee.
How to Reach Out and Touch the
Statues in Niagara Falls
The statues will be on display
in the lobby of Ripley's Believe
It or Not! Odditorium in Niagara
Falls from September 4 through
September 26. Would-be parents
are invited to come in and touch
them for FREE during regular
business hours. Museum hours and
location:
Daily 9 a.m. - midnight
4960 Clifton Hill, Niagara
Falls, Ontario
L2G 3N4 Canada
(905) 356-2238
After Niagara Falls, the
statues' final stop will be in
Panama City, Florida from
October 4 - October 25.
To set up an interview with a
mother who touched the statues
and became pregnant, contact Tim
O'Brien at
obrien@ripleys.com.
For more information, including
high resolution images and
video, please visit
www.ripleysnewsroom.com.
|
