My point exactly.  Still, Ripley's is useful to considerations of the
museum as entertainment, and--as indicated in my reply to the original
questioner on the Feejee mermaid--to the history of hoax exhibits, both in
the sense of the feejee mermaid hoax, and in Ripley's old chain-wide
reproduction of artifacts and events both actual and spurious.  There's
both humor and a point here for the adventurous scholar.

On Fri, 27 Feb 1998, Paula L. DeStefano wrote:

> Hi
>
> I know that one just opened a few years ago in Atlantic City...a good
> place for it!
>
> ****************************************************************************
> Paula L. DeStefano
> University of Delaware
> History/Museum Studies Graduate Program
>
> E-MAIL: [log in to unmask]
> WEBPAGE: http://udel.edu/~pldestef/index.html
> *****************************************************************************
>
> On Fri, 27 Feb 1998, James Tichgelaar wrote:
>
> > STUD David Andrews mused:
> > >         Whatever happened to the "Ripley's" entrepreneurial chain?  Surely
> > > has some thesis value in the history of museums as entertainment.
> > > Theories or nostalgia, baby-boomers?
> > >         --David Andrews, Duquesne University
> >
> > There is still a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum on the Oregon coast
> > at Newport.  I haven't been in, but I just checked the yellow pages, and
> > its still listed.  Believe it or not.
> >
> > James H Tichgelaar
> > Registrar, Arkansas State University Museum
> >
>