A Ripperologist Article

This article originally appeared in Ripperologist No. 75, January 2007. Ripperologist is the most respected Ripper periodical on the market and has garnered our highest recommendation for serious students of the case. For more information, view our Ripperologist page. Our thanks to the editor of Ripperologist for permission to reprint this article.

No one knows for sure how the name ‘Cat’s Cradle’ originated; yet, the object of the children’s game of ‘Cat’s Cradle’ – of wrapping loops of string around one’s fingers or wrists to form a series of patterns – is probably one of humanity’s oldest games.

Versions of this game have been found in various cultures throughout the world. In some regions of the United States, the game is also known as ‘Jack-in-the-Pulpit’. Which conveniently brings me to the subject of this article: my research into the Whitechapel murders and the identity of Jack the Ripper.