Old Rip, the horned toad that survived 31 years buried

Dogs and cats are companion animals, but in the past there were others that were considered in the same condition.

In 1897in the United States, there were special toads that children wanted to have in their home. It was a rare species called horned toad.

And one of them would go down in history in a fantastic feat of survival.

The old Eastland Courthouse.

In the city of Eastland The Palace of Justice had burned and the local government decided to rebuild it. To commemorate the event, a ceremony was held with the placement of a time capsule in the cornerstone of the new building.

Various objects were placed inside the capsule: some coins, a Bible, a newspaper of the day and a bottle of whiskey.

When they were going to close it, the mayor asked the people gathered if anyone had anything to put in the capsule. AND a boy raised his hand.

His name was Ripley and he was the son of County Clerk Will Ernest. The little boy approached with a small wooden box without a lid. Inside was his greatest treasure: Blinky, his horned toad. Around there were a few ants, the toad’s favorite food.

Those present laughed, but the boy remained in his position. I wanted Blinky to always be remembered.

The capsule was placed inside the cornerstone. They were built on it the three floors of the new Palace of Justice. And Blinky went down in history. For now.

After 31 years Blinky was alive.

The immortal horned toad

At the end of 1927, an inspection of the Palace detected serious structural flaws in the building. It had to be torn down and a new one built. And Ripley, now forty, and many inhabitants of the city remembered Blinkers.

So did some Indians from a tribe that lived in a nearby settlement. They considered horned toads a special animal: mythological and almost immortal. They could hibernate for 100 years.

It was decided that on February 18, 1928, the cornerstone would be broken and the time capsule removed. The word spread throughout the country and that morning 6,000 people came to the place.

The toad reached all the newspapers in the country.

In a 1965 book, “The Story of Old Rip”, Eastlander O’Brien Jr., who manages the Old Rip Oath, said several Eastland youth had spent the night at the demolished courthouse to ensure that no one would open the cornerstone.

On the morning of February 18 the cornerstone was broken and the time capsule was removed. They opened it and Among the objects was Blinky. They took it out of the capsule and everyone was amazed to see that the toad’s body had not decomposed. It was intact.

But from astonishment it turned into a mixture of screams, fainting, laughter, applause and tears among the crowd. One of the toad’s legs started to movethen his body seemed to inflate as he received fresh air and Seconds later he opened his eyes.

A horned toad. The Indians say it can hibernate for 100 years.

Blinky was alive 31 years later of being locked in a capsule inside a stone and under three floors of a concrete building. County Judge Ed Pritchard was present to certify the proceedings.

The truth is that from that moment Blinky changed his name. They started calling him Old Rip y became a legend.

To the White House

So big that it had to be taken to Washington. Reason? The president of that country himself, Calvin Coolidge, I wanted to meet him. And he did it. The visitor arrived 15 minutes late, but the president waited patiently in the White House to the most famous person in the United States.

The place where the time capsule was placed for 31 years.

Coolidge asked Will Wood, Old Rip’s keeper, several questions and stroked his back with his horn-rimmed glasses. Wood telegraphed to the people in Eastland that Old Rip parpadeó before the president.

The horned toad appeared in all the newspapers in the country. Thousands marveled at Rip on tour. Souvenir horned frogs sold at the Democratic National Convention that summer in Houston. Eastland Service Stations they gave away the reptiles as prizes for the purchase of fuel. It was even featured on a Fox Movietone newscast.

Old Rip was a star.

Old Rip today. His embalmed body inside an urn.

Its sad ending

Sadly and perhaps stressed, old Rip died 11 months after his “return to life.” On January 19, 1929, he died from pneumonia.

Its small brown body was embalmed and taken to the Eastland Courthouse where he had lived 31 years underground.

Old Rip has been there for 93 years, displayed in a glass coffin in the new courthouse building.

The Old Rip Monument.

In addition to being the official mascot of the county, his name is part of many local businesses and even Warner Bros. took him as a mascot.

The people of Eastland annually celebrate Ripfest which includes a parade, a 5K run and other fun. The famous lizard is also commemorated in exhibits at the Eastland County Museum and the museum’s Old Drip’s Coffee Shoppe.

And every February 18 in an official ceremony at the Court it is recited Old Rip’s oath: «I solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of Promoter of Old Rip, and to the best of my ability, I will promote, protect and defend to the death the Truth of the Old Rip Story. With the continued assistance of the people of Eastland County who also hold these Truths, I solemnly swear that I will do everything in my power to help perpetuate the Truth of Old Rip. So Help me, God.”

In Eastland Old Rip is a star and a source of income, such as the sale of ceramics with his figure.

All for Old Rip, the horned toad that can never die.

GML