 P.T. Barnum's Feejee mermaid from 1842 A common feature of sideshows, a Fiji mermaid (also Feejee mermaid) is a mummified body of something, supposedly a creature that was half mammal and half fish (like a grotesque version of normal mermaid stories). Fiji mermaid Year: 1842. ...
Fiji mermaid Year: 1842. ...
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction. ...
A mummy is a corpse whose skin and dried flesh have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold or dryness, or airlessness. ...
The statue of The Little Mermaid, a monument to Hans Christian Andersen, in Copenhagen harbour. ...
The original exhibit was popularized by circus great Phineas Taylor Barnum, but has since been copied many times in other attractions, including the collection of famed showman Robert Ripley. The original exhibit was shown around the United States, but was lost in the 1860s when Barnum's museum caught fire. The exhibit has since been acquired by the Harvard Peabody Museum and is currently housed in the museum's attic storage area. Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891), American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. ...
Robert LeRoy Ripley (December 25, 1890 - May 27, 1949) was an entrepreneur, an anthropologist and a cartoonist who created the world famous Ripleys Believe It or Not! series. ...
// Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ...
The Fiji mermaid came into Barnum's possession via his Boston counterpart Moses Kimball, who brought it down to Barnum in late spring of 1842. On June 18, Barnum and Kimball entered into a written agreement to exploit this "curiosity supposed to be a mermaid." Kimball would remain the creature's sole owner and Barnum would lease it for $12.50 a week. Barnum christened his artifact "The Fejee Mermaid" and began to "puff" her to the skies. In Barnum's exhibit, the mermaid was allegedly caught in 1842 by a "Dr. J. Griffin." Griffin was actually Levi Lyman, one of Barnum's close associates. Boston is a town and small port c. ...
Newspaper advertisement for the Boston Museum, by Moses Kimball, from the Barre Patriot, Barre, Vermont, 15 September 1850. ...
1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
In reality, the mermaid was either the work of an Indonesian craftsman using papier-mâché and materials from exotic fish, or the tail of a fish and a torso of a baby orangutan, stitched together with the head of a monkey. Papier-mâché around a form such as a balloon to create a pig. ...
Type Species Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 Species Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii The orangutans are two species of great apes with long arms and reddish, sometimes brown, hair native to Malaysia and Indonesia. ...
Approximate worldwide distribution of monkeys. ...
GameFAQs
In 2006 on the GameFAQs message board a user by the name of wilsonr created a rumor of a Fiji Mermaid existing in the game The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. This claim has been refuted by users with the PC version of the game. wilsonr has fallen into ill repute, but still claims the mermaid exists.
See also
Loch Ness Monster (Painting) by Heikenwaelder Hugo Cryptozoology is the study of animals that are rumored or suspected to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing; the term also includes the study of animals generally considered extinct, but which are still occasionally reported. ...
The term Jenny Haniver is known to have two meanings, one general and one specific. ...
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