Ripley's Buys Tenn. Electric Chair

Friday, December 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) â€” A Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum plans to add an electric chair to its macabre crime and punishment gallery that already includes medieval torture devices.

The exhibitor of the weird and unusual bought Tennessee's purported original electric chair, nicknamed Old Sparky, for more than $25,000 Wednesday. It will be displayed at its museum in the Great Smoky Mountains tourist town of Gatlinburg, where about 500,000 visitors flock each year.

Gawkers could view the leather-strapped, electrode-equipped white oak chair â€” responsible for 125 executions in Tennessee from 1916 to 1960 â€” as early as next month.

``This chair will fit in very, very nicely,'' said Edward Meyer, Ripley's vice president for publishing, who negotiated the acquisition.

The purchase comes a day after an online auction of the chair was prematurely stopped because of questions about its authenticity.

The seller, who identified himself as Arthur Rosenblatt, had offered the chair on eBay and then negotiated directly with Orlando, Fla.-based Ripley's.

``I feel that any opportunity to expose the chair to the greatest possible audience is the only correct way to dispose of it,'' said Rosenblatt, a collector and seller of ``murderabilia.''

Meyer said Ripley's has been trying to get an electric chair for years.

``We have always felt that an electric chair is something that the general public wants to see and is interested in,'' he said.

Rosenblatt wouldn't say how he obtained the chair, but he said it has been in storage in Massachusetts for several years.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has questioned the chair's lineage and Rosenblatt's right to sell it, if it's genuine.

``At this point, all I can say is we are still looking into it,'' department spokesman Steve Hayes said.

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On the Net:

Tennessee Department of Correction: http://www.state.tn.us/correction

Ripley's Believe It or Not: http://www.ripleys.com