"Worse still, ventures likeRipley's Believe It or Not, which originated as a cartoon in 1918, reduced modern curiosity to freak-show commercialism of emblematic shrunken heads."

Triumph of the Strange

By James Delbourgo

"By the 19th century, if you wanted truth, you looked to science; if you wanted beauty, you looked to art. In juxtaposing such things as paintings and machines, Wunderkammern offered neither. Worse still, ventures likeRipley's Believe It or Not, which originated as a cartoon in 1918, reduced modern curiosity to freak-show commercialism of emblematic shrunken heads."