Fiji mermaid

P.T. Barnum's Feejee mermaid from 1842

The Fiji mermaid (also Feejee mermaid) was an object comprising the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish. It was a common feature of sideshows, where it was presented as the mummified body of a creature that was supposedly half mammal and half fish, a version of a mermaid.The original had fish scales with animal hair superimposed on its body with pendulous breasts on its chest. The mouth was wide open with its teeth bared. The right hand was against the right cheek, and the left tucked under its lower left jaw.[1] This mermaid was supposedly caught near the Feejee Islands in the South Pacific.[2] Several replicas and variations have also been made and exhibited under similar names and pretexts.[3] The original object was exhibited by P.T Barnum in Barnum's American Museum in New York in 1842 and then disappeared. It was assumed that it had been destroyed in one of Barnum's many fires that destroyed his collections.[4]

The Fiji mermaid was not a real mermaid and the origin is uncertain.[4]

History

For many years, there have been legends of mermaids. Mermaid’s existence has been denied, though travelers of the sea still keep their eyes open in hopes of catching this mythical creature.[5]

Mermaids had been presented at shows for centuries. These were often dugongs or people afflicted with sirenomelia. During the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, the remains of mermaids were a staple of cabinets of curiosities.

The Fiji Mermaid's beginning

Though the origin of the Fiji mermaid is uncertain there are ideas as to where it came from. The Fiji Mermaid was an art form improved by fishermen in Japan and the East Indies. They constructed faux mermaids by stitching the upper bodies of apes onto the bodies of fish. These mermaids were sometimes used to the form of religion.[6]

People's knowledge of the Fiji Mermaid started when Samuel Barrett Edes, an American Sea Captain, bought it from Japanese sailors in 1822, which he purchased for $6000.[7][8] At the time, he did not have enough money for the transaction so he "borrowed" the capital from the ship's expense account.[9] In Edes' possession, it was displayed in London in 1822. The Fiji Mermaid was advertised in a publication by J. Limbird in the Mirror.[7] Once Captain Edes died his son took possession of the mermaid and who it to Moses Kimball, of the Boston Museum,in 1842. Kimball brought the Fiji Mermaid to New York that summer to show P. T. Barnum.[7] Before agreeing to exhibit the Fiji Mermaid, Barnum had his naturalist examine it. His naturalist could not conceive how it would have been manufactured because of the teeth and fins, but he said it had to be fake because he did not believe mermaids were real.[7][10] However, despite his naturalist's beliefs, Barnum thought that the specimen would draw the public to the museum. Kimball would remain the creature's sole owner and Barnum would lease it for $12.50 a week. Barnum christened his artifact "The Feejee Mermaid".

P. T. Barnum

The art of the hoax is demonstrated in history by P.T. Barnum because of the Feejee mermaid.[11]

P.T. Barnum was a 19th century showman. He became famous by filling his museum with interesting things that no one has seen before, such as the Fiji mermaid. He charged a quarter for people to come look at all the stuff he had in his museum. The way P.T. Barnum showcased his employees was for their physical appearance, some thought that it was disagreeable.[12]

Once Barnum hired the Fiji Mermaid, the way he got people's attention to actually come examine the specimen. He had letters sent to New York newspapers from Alabama, South Carolina, and Washington D.C. No one knew that the letters were created by Barnum himself until years later.[10] These letters commented on the weather and alluded that there was a mermaid in the possession of "Dr. J. Griffin", which he had allegedly caught while in South America. Griffin was actually Levi Lyman. Levi Lyman was one of P.T Barnum's associates.[13] To keep the plan working, Griffin checked into a Philadelphia hotel. After staying a few days and gaining a positive reputation with the public, Griffin showed the landlord of the hotel the mermaid as a thanks for his hospitality. The landlord was so intrigued, he begged that some of his friends, many of whom were editors, be shown the mermaid.[10] This made the public interested in the Fiji Mermaid.[14]

This last act made the plan successful. The FiJi Mermaid had the public's curiosity. Griffin went to New York and at first only displayed it to a limited audience, but then "relented" to display the Fiji Mermaid in Concert Hall for a week.[13] During that week, it was actually only displayed for five days because Barnum "convinced" Griffin to bring the mermaid to the The American Museum of Natural History. While in the museum, Barnum had 10,000 illustrated pamphlets created that described mermaids, with "The Feejee Mermaid" in particular.[15]

After Barnum

While exhibited by P. T. Barnum, the Fiji mermaid started creating controversy, especially in the South.[16] After its debut, it dropped from sight.[17] In the 1860s, Barnum's museum caught fire multiple times. During one of those fires, the original exhibit was supposedly lost. However, the Fiji mermaid concept was so popularized by Barnum, it has since been copied many times in other attractions.

Peabody Mermaid

There is controversy today on whether the Fiji mermaid actually disappeared in the fire or not. Many claim to have the original exhibit, but Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, has the most proof that their exhibit is the actual original. It does not look completely the same, but it does have the same flat nose and bared teeth.[18] The thought that the fires could have altered the appearance of the mermaid are reason for it not looking completely like it did in Barnum's possession.

Later incarnations

The Banff Merman, similar to a Fiji mermaid, on display at the Indian Trading Post

In his Secrets of the Sideshows, Joe Nickell documents several modern-day claimants to the title of Barnum's "true" original mermaid, or as he describes them, "fakes of Barnum's fake". Exhibits at Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Coney Island's Sideshow by the Seashore, and Bobby Reynolds's traveling sideshow all lay claim to the title, but in Nickell's opinion, none is to be believed.[19] He also describes an update of the tradition that uses an elaborate system to project the image of a live woman into a fishbowl, giving the appearance that she is only an inch or two long. He relates the story of a performer who was smoking a cigarette in her hidden chamber; the man outside was confronted by an angry patron who demanded to know how this was possible if the "mermaid" was underwater.[20]

A guide to constructing a Fiji mermaid appeared in the November 2009 issue of Fortean Times magazine, in an article written by special effects expert and stop-motion animator Alan Friswell. Rather than building the figure with fish and monkey parts, Friswell used papier mache and modelling putty, sealed with wallpaper paste, and with doll's hair glued to the scalp.

In popular culture

In Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses, Rainn Wilson's character is murdered and his corpse is transformed into a Fiji mermaid via taxidermy.

In the '90s TV series The X-Files, the episode "Humbug" depicts the possibility of a series of sideshow murders having been committed by a Fiji mermaid.

In the 2010 animated series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, the Fiji Mermaid makes an appearance as one of the objects in display at Darrow's Oddity Museum, in the episode "The Secret Serum".

In the 2012 animated series Gravity Falls, the Fiji Mermaid makes an appearance as one of the objects in display at the Mystery Shack, appearing first in the episode "Tourist Trapped".

References

  1. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P.T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 151. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  2. ↑ Boese, Alex (2014)"The Feejee Mermaid."
  3. ↑ Nickell, Joe (2005). Secrets of the Sideshows. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 333–335.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 149.
  5. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P.T Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 149.
  6. ↑ Boese, Alex (2014) “The Feejee Mermaid.”
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Barnum, P. T. (1871). Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum. New York: American News Company. pp. 129–130.
  8. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 149–151. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  9. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 150.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "The Feejee Mermaid Archive". The Lost Museum. American Social History Project/Center for Media Learning. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Young, Emma (February 2012). “A sleepy hoax, or another fine ness.” P. 1
  12. ↑ Zipp, Yvonne (August 2011). “P.T. Barnum’s Women.” P. 2
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 150. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  14. ↑ Barnum, P. T. (1871). Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum. New York: American News Company. P.129
  15. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Fiji Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 150–151. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  16. ↑ Greensberg, Kenneth S (Feb 1990). "The Nose, the Lie, and the Duel in the Antebellum South". The American Historical Review 95 (1): 57–74. doi:10.2307/2162954.
  17. ↑ Levi, Steven C (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the Feejee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 151. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  18. ↑ Levi, Steven C. (April 1977). "P. T. Barnum and the FeeJee Mermaid". Western Folklore 36 (2): 152–153. doi:10.2307/1498966.
  19. ↑ Nickell, pp. 334–335.
  20. ↑ Nickell, pp. 292–293.

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