Growing up in the small prairie town of Waymore, Nebraska, young Ralph Dibny dreamed of big-city fame and fortune. Worrying far more about being ignored than becoming a spectacle, he played the part of prankster and showoff during his entire childhood. To his dismay however, his shows were always overshadowed by the achievements of his older brother Ken - star football player, Eagle Scout, and the light of his school. Ralph wanted to find a way to make an alternative career, preferably in showbiz, but he couldn't sing, couldn't dance... But he was skinny! And there were those who had actually turned their skinniness into a career - the India rubber-men that he had always loved to watch at carnival side shows.Training for years, but never coming close to being even half as agile as the India rubber-men, Ralph became more and more convinced that there was a trade secret behind their skills. In his late teens, he started traveling around, going from carnival to carnival and talking to rubber-men at every opportunity, always getting the answer that the trade secret did not exist.However, Ralph found a peculiarity that all the contortionists had in common - they were all very fond of the soda pop called Gingold , made from juice of the rare Gingo fruit of the Yucat Show less «