As we open our "Ripley's Believe It or Not" exhibit, we are reminded the Ripley has a long history of having a presence in Balboa Park.  During the California Pacific International Exposition of 1935, Ripley's had an "Odditorium" that highlighted the strange and bizarre.  However, it was not the only unusual attraction at the Exposition.  Using photos, video and documents from our Archives, we will look at some of the bizarre points of interest from the 1935 Expo, using a Map of the event as our guide. 

This map of the 1935 Expo was found in our archives and digitized.  We will use it as the guidepost for the attractions we will highlight here.

If you look at the map above, the building marked as 11 is where the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium is.  This location currently is about a mile away from the San Diego Air & Space Museum, approximately where the Zoo parking lot is now.

This photo shows the Ripley's Odditorium (11 on the map), on the Midway, right behind "Crime Never Pays" (10).

In this image from the Davis Album in our collection, the Indian Pueblo (24) is on full display.

The Davis Album has a photo of Gold Gulch (66) a throwback to the Gold Rush.

An attraction that would probably not be permitted today was the "Midget Farm" (15).

As bizarre as Midget Village was, it was not the most over the top attraction at the Expo.  That honor goes to Zoro Gardens (70)...a nudist colony, where unclothed and barely clothed actors (mostly women) would lounge around to be gawked at. 

Our Museum's current home, the Ford Building (55) was a major draw during the Expo.  Not only were the newest Ford products on display, behind the building was the "Roads of the Pacific" where visitors could drive the newest Ford cars.