Ripleys Believe It Or Not Odditorium Baltimore

Edgar Allan Poe wrote his great works while living in several cities on the East Coast of the United States, but Baltimore's claim to him is special. His ancestors settled in the burgeoning town on the Chesapeake during the 18th century, and it was in Baltimore that he found refuge when his foster family in Virginia shut him out. Most importantly, it was here that he was first paid for his literary work. If Baltimore discovered Poe, it also has the inglorious honor of being the place that destroyed him. On October 7, 1849, he died in this city, then known as "Mob Town." Edgar Allan Poe's Baltimore is the first book to explore the poet's life in this port city and in the quaint little house on Amity Street, where he once wrote.

Quirky, historic, and sophisticated: get to know all sides of Charm City with Moon Baltimore. Explore the City: Navigate by neighborhood or by activity with color-coded maps See the Sites: Visit the birthplace of the Star-Spangled Banner, seek out Edgar Allan Poe's historic gravestone, or take the whole family to the National Aquarium. Have a picnic at Baltimore's Washington Monument, shop the locally owned boutiques of "The Avenue," or get lost in the stacks at the beautiful George Peabody Library. Marvel at the works of Warhol and Pollack at the Baltimore Museum of Art or trek to the top of Federal Hill for some sweeping harbor views Get a Taste of the City: Crack open a dozen steamed crabs, feast on fried crab cakes, or opt for soft-shell when it's in season. Indulge in a huge breakfast with a Baltimore twist, sample top-notch tapas in a former machine shop, or peruse the Farmer's Market & Bazaar for fresh fish and other local specialties Bars and Nightlife: Have a pint at the centuries-old bar The Wharf Rat, enjoy everything from table tennis to a burlesque show at The Windup Space, or sneak into a top-secret speakeasy for the cocktail du jour Honest Advice from Charm City native Jennifer Walker on the best local businesses and under-the-radar hotspots Flexible, strategic itineraries including a two-day best of Baltimore and ideas for families and foodies, plus day trips to Annapolis, Frederick, and more Tips for Travelers including where to stay, how to safely bike the city, and more, plus advice for LGBTQ visitors, seniors, and families with children Maps and Tools like background information on the history and culture of Baltimore, easy-to-read maps, a section of full-color photos, and neighborhood guides from Inner Harbor to Fell's Point With Moon Baltimore's practical tips and local know-how, you can plan your trip your way. Extending your trip? Check out Moon Virginia & Maryland. Want to explore more east coast cities? Try Moon Washington D.C. or Moon Philadelphia.

Maryland offers an abundance of natural and cultural riches, so make this guidebook your compass to it all. Limitless exploration and entertainment opportunities await travelers and residents alike, and this thoroughly revised edition of Explorer’s Guide Maryland is the perfect companion for every excursion. The best restaurants, places to stay, and activities for every budget and interest are laid out in an easy-to-navigate guide as useful on the bookshelf as it is in the glove compartment. Descriptions and listings cover the whole state, including the quiet Eastern Shore; picturesque, historic Annapolis; the heart of downtown Baltimore; the many historical sites dotting the southern region; and the scenic northwestern mountains.

The newest title in the Ripley's Annual series is a compendium of new and bizarre stories, pictures and interviews all of which are packaged nicely within a vibrant red foil and lenticular cover. For the legions of dedicated Ripley’s fans, and anyone else on the planet who loves unbelievable facts and jaw-dropping images, the latest annual in our bestselling series is a feast of delights. Be amazed at a portrait made from 200,000 dead ants, the man who traversed the English Channel by holding onto a bunch of balloons, and the single human hair featuring paintings of all 42 American presidents. A compendium of incredible and bizarre facts, stories, interviews and features, presented in a stunning new design, this book also drives readers to Ripley’s fully interactive website. There are intriguing interviews with some of the astounding individuals who are featured in the book that spotlight their achievements and reveal more about what motivates them. A dramatic eight-page gatefold sections presents Ripley’s first ever odditorium, which showcased sideshow performers and was built for the World’s Trade Fair in 1933. This features a selection of choice memorabilia including Robert Ripley’s original annotated list of performers. Informative “Ripley’s Research” boxes give the scientific explanation behind some of the most incredible tales in the book, such as how people have turned their fingers into magnets. A section on the Olympic games, past and present, highlights the wacky as well as the amazing feats that have taken place at the height of sporting achievement. Additional black and white Ripley archive photographs feature throughout the book, and miscellaneous lists are also scattered throughout. This year specially commissioned photographic features will also appear in the book.

This cultural history of the travelling freak show in America chronicles the rise and fall of the industry as attitudes about disability evolved. From 1840 until 1940, hundreds of freak shows crisscrossed the United States, from the smallest towns to the largest cities, exhibiting their casts of dwarfs, giants, Siamese twins, bearded ladies, savages, snake charmers, fire eaters, and other oddities. By today’s standards such displays would be considered cruel and exploitative—the pornography of disability. Yet for one hundred years the freak show was widely accepted as one of America’s most popular forms of entertainment. Robert Bogdan’s fascinating social history brings to life the world of the freak show and explores the culture that nurtured and, later, abandoned it. In uncovering this neglected chapter of show business, he describes in detail the flimflam artistry behind the shows, the promoters and the audiences, and the gradual evolution of public opinion from awe to embarrassment. Freaks were not born, Bogdan reveals; they were manufactured by the amusement world, usually with the active participation of the freaks themselves. Many of the "human curiosities" found fame and fortune, until the ascent of professional medicine transformed them from marvels into pathological specimens.

Painted screens have long been synonymous in the popular imagination with the Baltimore row house. Picturesque, practical, and quirky, window and door screens adorned with scenic views simultaneously offer privacy and ventilation in crowded neighborhoods. As an urban folk art, painted screens flourished in Baltimore, though they did not originate there--precursors date to early eighteenth-century London. They were a fixture on fine homes and businesses in Europe and America throughout the Victorian era. But as the handmade screen yielded to industrial production, the whimsical artifact of the elite classes was suddenly transformed into an item for mass consumption. Historic examples are now a rarity, but in Baltimore the folk art is still very much alive. The Painted Screens of Baltimore takes a first look at this beloved icon of one major American city through the words and images of dozens of self-taught artists who trace their creations to the capable and unlikely brush of one Bohemian immigrant, William Oktavec. In 1913, this corner grocer began a family dynasty inspired generations of artists who continue his craft to this day. The book examines the roots of painted wire cloth, the ethnic communities where painted screens have been at home for a century, and the future of this art form.

Contains: envelope with letter, removable photographs, deck of cards, 3D glasses.

Wilbur C. Sweatman (1882-1961) is one of the most important, yet unheralded, African. American musicians involved in the transition of ragtime into jazz in the early twentieth. century. In That's Got 'Em!, Mark Berresford tracks this energetic pioneer over a. seven-decade career. His talent transformed every genre of black music before the. advent of rock and roll?pickaninny bands, minstrelsy, circus sideshows, vaudeville. (both black and white), night clubs, and cabarets. Sweatman was the first African. American musician to be offered a long-term recording contract, and he dazzled. listeners with jazz clarinet solos before the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's so-called first. jazz records.. Sweatman toured the vaudeville circuit for over twenty years and presented African. American music to white music lovers without resorting to the hitherto obligatory. plantation costumes and blackface makeup. His bands were a fertile breeding ground. of young jazz talent, featuring such future stars as Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, . and Jimmie Lunceford. Sweatman subsequently played pioneering roles in radio and. recording production. His high profile and sterling reputation in both the black and. white entertainment communities made him a natural choice for administering the. estate of Scott Joplin and other notable black performers and composers. That's Got. 'Em! is the first full-length biography of this pivotal figure in black popular culture, . providing a compelling account of his life and times

Visit mindboggling places, witness death defying stunts, discover outlandishnventions and see fantastic human achievements that Robert Ripley unearthedn his life-long quest for the incredible and bizarre.