View source for Ol' Rip the Horned Toad

{{Short description|Texas horned lizard (died 1929)}}
[[File:Old Rip in his Coffin.jpg|thumb|Ol' Rip in his coffin in Eastland County Courthouse]]

'''Ol' Rip the Horned Toad''' (died January 19, 1929) was a [[Texas horned lizard]]⁠ (''Phrynosoma cornutum''), commonly referred to as a "horned toad" or "horny toad", ⁠which supposedly survived a 31-year hibernation as an [[Living entombed animal|entombed animal]] following its exhumation from a cornerstone in [[Eastland, Texas]], on February 18, 1928. The lizard became a national celebrity and appeared in 1920s [[motion pictures]].{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfnm|Newton|2008|Ellsworth|1997|''Greenville News''|1928|3p=1}} Its name was a reference to American writer [[Washington Irving]]'s fictional character [[Rip Van Winkle]].{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}} The same year, a Texas political delegation led by Senator [[Earle Mayfield]] presented the docile lizard to President [[Calvin Coolidge]] at the [[White House]] for his inspection.{{sfnm|House|1938|1p=8|''Greenville News''|1928|2p=1}}

Following the creature's fame, horned toads were sold by the thousands as [[souvenir]]s at public events, including the [[1928 Democratic National Convention]].{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}} The ensuing mass capture and export of the horned toads resulted in the [[genus]]'s abrupt decline in West Central Texas and prompted an intervention by the [[Texas Department of Agriculture]].{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}

Decades later, the saga of Ol' Rip inspired ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' scribe [[Michael Maltese]] to write a 1955 animated theatrical short entitled ''[[One Froggy Evening]]''.{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}} In the cartoon, a construction worker demolishing an old building finds an 1892 [[time capsule]] inside a cornerstone.{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}} The capsule contains [[Michigan J. Frog|a living frog]] which is able to sing [[Tin Pan Alley]] songs such as "[[Hello! Ma Baby]]" and "[[I'm Just Wild About Harry]]".{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}}

== History ==
=== Alleged entombment ===
[[File:Eastland County Courthouse Wiki (1 of 1).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Eastland County Courthouse in 2021]]
On July 29, 1897, a four-year-old boy named Will Wood caught a horned toad in [[Eastland County, Texas]].{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}{{sfn|Newton|2008}} His father, Eastland County clerk Ernest E. Wood, decided to test the West Texas tradition that the creatures could survive for many years in hibernation.{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}{{sfn|Newton|2008}} The horned lizard was placed in a  [[time capsule]] in a [[cornerstone]] of the Eastland courthouse along with memorabilia, including a [[Bible]] and a bottle of alcohol.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfn|Newton|2008}} 

Thirty years later, during the [[Jazz Age]], construction workers began to tear down the old courthouse, and town officials scheduled a public event to open the time capsule in mid-February 1928.{{sfnm|House|1938|1p=8|Phillips|1929|2p=6}} An ambitious young newspaperman named Boyce House reported on the forthcoming ceremony in his articles for the ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]''.{{sfn|Phillips|1929|p=6}} House particularly emphasized the mystery of the horned toad which supposedly had been entombed in the capsule since 1897.{{sfn|Phillips|1929|p=6}}

As a result of House's sensationalist newspaper articles, a crowd of 1,500 spectators gathered in Eastland, Texas, to witness the opening of the time capsule and to learn the fate of the horned toad.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfn|Phillips|1929|p=6}} Many spectators had traveled more than 25 miles to be present, and hundreds thronged around the makeshift fence that encircled the old courthouse.{{sfn|Phillips|1929|p=6}} At exactly four o'clock on Saturday, February 18, 1928, a live horned lizard was allegedly produced from within the time capsule in front of the excited audience.{{sfnm|Phillips|1929|1p=6|''The Kansas City Star''|1928|2p=2}}{{sfnm|House|1938|1p=8|''The Idaho Statesman''|1928|2p=1|Ellsworth|1997}} Newspaperman Boyce House recalled the chaotic scene:

{{Quote|When the brick wall was pulled away from the cornerstone, the crowd rushed forward, in its excitement, pressing so closely against a worker that he barely had room to ply his pick to break a layer of cement over the top of the stone. Then, he lifted a sheet of metal underlying the cement. As this covering was raised, disclosing the cavity, Rev. F. E. Singleton (pastor of the Eastland Methodist Church), standing beside the cornerstone, leveled a finger and said: "There's the frog!"

An oil man, Eugene Day, thrust his hand into the cavity and lifted a flat, dust-covered toad, which he handed to Rev. Mr. Singleton. The pastor handed the creature to Judge Pritchard, who dangled it with a hind leg that all might see. Suddenly, the other hind leg twitched: The frog was alive! {{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}}}
{{multiple image
 | perrow = 2
 | total_width = 300
 | align = right
 | image1 = William Temple Hornaday.jpeg
 | width1 = 150
 | alt1 = Photograph of William Temple Hornaday
 | image2 = Ditmars Raymond 1876-1942.png
 | width2 = 150
 | alt2 = Photograph of Ditmars Raymond
 | footer = Dr. [[William Temple Hornaday]] supported the claim of the horned toad's survival, while Dr. [[Raymond L. Ditmars]] declared its survival to be impossible.
 | footer_align = left
}}
Within days, national newspaper chains reported the discovery of the entombed lizard on their front pages.{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}  ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported the event on its front page with the declarative headline: "Toad Alive After 31 Years Sealed in Texas Cornerstone".{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1928a|p=1}} The ''Times'' article credulously reported:

{{blockquote|After the cornerstone was removed, the toad appeared lifeless for some time, but in a little while, it opened its eyes. In about twenty minutes, it began to breathe. The mouth, however, appeared to have grown together. Efforts will be made to induce the toad to take food, and, if necessary, the mouth will be opened by an operation. The toad is now on exhibition.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1928a|p=1}}}}

Following these newspaper reports, [[zoologist]]s and other scientists began a public debate over whether a Texas horned toad could survive such an extended period without water, sunlight, or oxygen.{{sfnm|''Fremont Tribune''|1928|1p=1|''Times Record News''|1928|2p=1|''Wichita Falls Times''|1928|3p=6}} Dr. [[Raymond L. Ditmars]], curator of mammals and reptiles at the [[Bronx Zoo]], declared the alleged survival of the entombed lizard in Eastland, Texas, to be "utterly impossible".{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1928b|p=11}} In contrast, preeminent [[naturalist]] [[William T. Hornaday]], the curator of the [[New York Zoological Gardens]], asserted that "the incident was possible⁠—and gave an instance from his own experience in [[Ceylon]]".{{sfn|Phillips|1929|p=6}} Indifferent to this scientific debate, Eastland locals instead ascribed the horned toad's "miraculous" survival for thirty-one years to the presence of the Bible in the time capsule.<ref>{{harvnb|House|1938|p=11}}: "In the cornerstone with Old Rip had been a copy of the Bible and [[Arthur Brisbane]], in his column read by scores of millions, said that Will Wood believed the frog had derived strength from the presence of the Scriptures. Sermons were preached on the subject."</ref>

=== National fame ===
[[File:Calvin_Coolidge_cph.3g10777_(cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Calvin Coolidge]] inspected Ol' Rip at the [[White House]]. He declined to touch Ol' Rip, but he stroked the lizard with his [[spectacles]].{{sfn|''Greenville News''|1928|p=1}}]]
Due to the extensive media coverage, Ol' Rip became a national celebrity.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfn|''Greenville News''|1928|p=1}} The docile lizard was transported to Dallas, Texas, for public exhibition by Will Wood, the same individual who purportedly found the specimen as a boy in 1897.  After a public outcry by Eastland inhabitants and profit-hungry business people over removing the famous creature from their otherwise nondescript and insignificant town, Wood returned Ol' Rip to Eastland.  Dallas exhibitors promptly sued Wood for {{US$|6000|1928|long=no}}{{inflation/fn|US}} for alleged breach of contract.{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}

After this incident, Ol' Rip went on a national tour, and forty thousand spectators viewed him at the Zoological Gardens in [[St. Louis, Missouri]].  Later that same year in [[New York City]], motion pictures were produced with Will Wood introducing Ol' Rip, and "a bug-catcher was paid {{US$|0.50|1928|long=no}}{{inflation/fn|US}} each for insects that the frog devoured to please the cameraman".{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}

The peak of Rip's fame occurred in May 1928 when, during his national tour, the lizard was transported to [[Washington, D.C.]], where Texas senator [[Earle Bradford Mayfield]] presented the specimen to President [[Calvin Coolidge]].{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}{{sfn|''Greenville News''|1928|p=1}} A bemused Coolidge purportedly declined to touch the horned toad and merely nudged it with his spectacles.{{sfn|''Greenville News''|1928|p=1}} A newspaper article reported the incident:

{{Quote|President Coolidge asked numerous questions concerning his celebrated guest; stroked the frog's back with his horn-rimmed glasses, and then President and Old Rip gazed steadily at each other for a full minute without a sound—[[Silent Cal]] had met his match.{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}}}

As a consequence of the creature's immense fame, horned toads were sold as souvenirs at the [[1928 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Houston, Texas]], for {{US$|2.50|1928|long=no}}.{{inflation/fn|US}}{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}  The mass capture and export of horned toads for such sales resulted in the genus' precipitous decline in West Texas.{{sfnm|House|1938|1p=8|Phillips|1929|2p=6}} According to Texas journalist Boyce House: "So many [horned toads] were shipped out of West Texas that a [[Texas Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] bulletin foretold damage amounting to thousands of dollars if the [export] shipments did not stop inasmuch as horned frogs preyed on insects that would devour [local] crops."{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}}

=== Death and controversy ===
Soon after his national tour, Ol' Rip died of [[pneumonia]] on January 19, 1929.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}} After Ol' Rip's death, the specimen was kept in a tiny satin-lined casket, provided by the [[National Casket Company]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=Teresa S. |title=Old Rip |url=https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/oct/legend/ |website=Texas Parks and Wildlife |access-date=July 8, 2024 |archive-date=September 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925202748/https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/oct/legend/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and displayed in the lobby of the new Eastland courthouse.{{sfn|House|1938|p=8}} 

Decades later, in September 1961, Ol' Rip briefly disappeared from the museum exhibit, and a ransom note demanded {{US$|10,000|1961|long=no}}{{inflation/fn|US}} for his return.{{sfn|''Austin American-Statesman''|1961|p=14}} After a city-wide search, the specimen was recovered.{{sfn|''Austin American-Statesman''|1961|p=14}} A year later, in 1962, [[John Connally]] visited the courthouse while running for governor of Texas for a publicity event.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}} An impetuous Connally lifted the embalmed creature by its hind leg which abruptly detached.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}

In 1972, Rip's body was again stolen.{{sfnm|''Fort Worth Star-Telegram''|1972|1p=25|Dabney|1976|2p=4}} Soon after, the City of Eastland claimed they had somehow "found" the stolen specimen and returned the object to exhibition.{{sfn|Dabney|1976|p=4}} However, museum visitors noted the "recovered" toad now inexplicably had four feet, while the original specimen only had three feet,{{sfn|Dabney|1976|p=4}} presumably due to the earlier 1962 incident with John Connally.{{sfn|Scudder|Watkins|2018}}

In 1976, an anonymous letter was sent to newspapers claiming the original, three-footed specimen was still in the thief's possession, and the City of Eastland had replaced the original specimen with a fake.{{sfn|Dabney|1976|p=4}} Angry that "the city of Eastland was building its future around a dried-up horned frog",{{sfn|Dabney|1976|p=4}} the letter-writer offered to pay {{US$|5,000|1976|long=no}}{{inflation/fn|US}} to anyone who could prove the toad in the courthouse was truly Ol' Rip.{{sfn|Dabney|1976|p=4}}

=== Legacy and influence ===
In 1955, ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' writer [[Michael Maltese]] was inspired by the story of Ol' Rip to write an animated theatrical short entitled ''[[One Froggy Evening]]''.{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}} In the cartoon, a construction worker demolishing a building finds an 1892 time capsule inside a cornerstone.{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}} The capsule contains a living frog, retroactively named [[Michigan J. Frog]] years later, which is able to sing [[Tin Pan Alley]] songs such as "[[Hello! Ma Baby]]" and "[[I'm Just Wild About Harry]]".{{sfnm|Michael J. Frog|2017|Gordon|2003}}

Ol' Rip's story was told in the 2004 documentary short ''ToadSpotting: The Legend of Old Rip''.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q129677699|id=tt1018796|title=ToadSpotting: The Legend of Old Rip}}</ref>

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Coolidge Sees Famous Horned Toad of Texas | date = May 4, 1928 | newspaper = [[Greenville News]] | location = Greenville, South Carolina | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/188233123/ | url-access = subscription | page = 1 | edition = Friday | access-date = January 9, 2022 | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | ref = {{harvid|''Greenville News''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | last = Dabney | first = James | title = Letter Reawakens 'Rip' Toad Legend | date = September 10, 1976 | edition = Friday | page = 4 | newspaper = [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] | location = Fort Worth, Texas | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/633757078/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Doubts Horned Toad Tale: Dr. Ditmars Calls Survival for 31 Years in Cornerstone 'Impossible' | date = February 21, 1928 | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York City | page = 1 | edition = Tuesday | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/21/archives/doubts-horned-toad-tale-dr-ditmars-calls-survival-for-31-years-in.html | url-access = subscription | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''The New York Times''|1928b}}}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Eastland Asks Old Rip's Return | date = April 18, 1972 | edition = Tuesday | page = 25 | newspaper = [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] | location = Fort Worth, Texas | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/644137888/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''Fort Worth Star-Telegram''|1972}}}}
* {{Cite news | last = Ellsworth | first = Ken | title = A Century Ago Old Rip Was Placed in a Cornerstone | date = March 2, 1997 | newspaper = Reporter News | publisher = [[Scripps League Newspapers|Scripps Newspaper Group]] | location = Abilene, Texas | url = http://www.texnews.com/local97/ken030297.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130121065350/www.texnews.com/local97/ken030297.html | archive-date = January 21, 2013 | access-date = January 9, 2022}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Frog Lives In Stone 31 Years But Specimen in an Old Texas Courthouse Can't Eat Now | date = February 19, 1928 | edition = Sunday | newspaper = [[Kansas City Star]] | page = 2 | location = Kansas City, Missouri | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/655121219/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''The Kansas City Star''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Frog Question Acute and Threatens to Become National: Letters, Verbal Testimony and Even Living Specimens of Toads and Frogs Pour Steadily Into Office of Times | date = February 26, 1928 | edition = Sunday | newspaper = [[Times Record News|Wichita Falls Times]] | location = Wichita Falls, Texas | page = 6 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/773773951/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''Wichita Falls Times''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | last = Gordon | first = David George | title = Hibernating Hoppers: Can Toads Live Buried for Decades? | date = December 2003 | work = [[MSN Encarta]] | location = Redmond, Washington | url = http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=sciencetoad | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031228124828/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=sciencetoad | archive-date = December 28, 2003 | access-date = January 8, 2022}}
* {{Cite news | title = Horned Frog Alive After Being Buried For Thirty-one Years | date = February 19, 1928 | edition = Sunday | newspaper = [[Idaho Statesman]] | page = 1 | location = Boise, Idaho | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/722747112/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''The Idaho Statesman''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | last = House | first = Boyce | title = Amazing Story of Rip Is Told in Its Entirety | date = February 13, 1938 | newspaper = [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] | location = Fort Worth, Texas | edition = Sunday | page = 8 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/636009835/ | url-access = subscription | access-date = January 9, 2022 | via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}
* {{Cite web | title = Michigan J. Frog: Biography — American Animated Character | website = who2.com | url = http://www.who2.com/bio/michigan-j-frog/ | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170808033758/http://www.who2.com/bio/michigan-j-frog/ | archive-date = August 8, 2017 | access-date = January 9, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|Michael J. Frog|2017}}}}
* {{Cite magazine | last = Newton | first = Teresa S. | title = Legend, Lore & Legacy: Old Rip | date = October 2008 | magazine = Texas Parks and Wildlife | publisher = [[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]] | location = Austin, Texas | url = https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/oct/legend/ | access-date = January 9, 2022}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Old Frog Leaps Back Into Case | date = September 29, 1961 | edition = Friday | page = 14 | newspaper = [[Austin American-Statesman]] | location = Austin, Texas | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/357861533/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''Austin American-Statesman''|1961}}}}
* {{Cite news | last = Phillips | first = R. K. | title = Death of Texas Horned Frog Recalls His Hop to Fame | date = February 21, 1929 | newspaper = [[The Knoxville Journal]] | location = Knoxville, Tennessee | edition = Thursday | page = 6 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/586433287/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]]}} 
* {{Cite news | last1 = Scudder | first1 = Charles | last2 = Watkins | first2 = Chelsea | title = The strange tale of Old Rip, the horned toad on display in a Texas courthouse | date = October 5, 2018 | newspaper = [[Dallas Morning News]] | location = Dallas, Texas | edition = Friday | url = https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texana/2018/10/05/the-strange-tale-of-old-rip-the-horned-toad-on-display-in-a-texas-courthouse/ | access-date = January 9, 2022}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Texas Horned Frog Center of Nation-Wide Disputes: Scientists Doubt 31 Year Sleep Story of Reptile | date = February 22, 1928 | edition = Wednesday | newspaper = [[Fremont Tribune]] | location = Fremont, Nebraska | page = 1 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/500645858/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | ref = {{harvid|''Fremont Tribune''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Texas Horned Frog Upsets Scientists: 'Impossible!' Says Zoologists But Eastland Toad Still Lives Anyway | date = February 21, 1928 | newspaper = [[Times Record News]] | location = Wichita Falls, Texas | edition = Tuesday | page = 1 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/774886762/ | url-access = subscription | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''Times Record News''|1928}}}}
* {{Cite news | author = <!-- Not stated --> | title = Toad Alive After 31 Years Sealed in Texas Cornerstone | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York City  | date = February 20, 1928 | page = 1 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/20/archives/toad-alive-after-31-years-sealed-in-texas-cornerstone.html | url-access = subscription | access-date = January 8, 2022 | ref = {{harvid|''The New York Times''|1928a}}}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web|last=Newkirk|first=Greg|title=Meet Ol' Rip, the toad that survived 31 years trapped in a time capsule|url=https://roadtrippers.com/stories/meet-ol-rip-the-toad-that-lived-31-years-in-a-time-capsule?lat=40.80972&lng=-96.67528&z=5|website=Roadtrippers|date=July 7, 2014|ref=none}}
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=tdhyk|name=Horned Lizard}}
* {{cite web |last1=DiMeo |first1=Nate |title=Nee Blinky |url=https://thememorypalace.us/nee-blinky/ |website=The Memory Palace |date=29 September 2022 |access-date=8 October 2022|ref=none}}
* "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHFb0hOrxTU&t=187s ToadSpotting: The Legend of Old Rip]". (January 31, 2004). Esteem Education

[[Category:1890s animal births]]
[[Category:1929 animal deaths]]
[[Category:Individual lizards]]
[[Category:Individual taxidermy exhibits]]
[[Category:Eastland County, Texas]]