Within Hoaxes
When a Fake Mermaid Looked Like Proof
Composite mermaid bodies reveal how hoaxes borrow museum and specimen language while avoiding open scientific testing.
On this page
- Barnum's specimen style exhibition
- Composite bodies and modern scanning
- Why restricted access helps specimen hoaxes
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Introduction
Barnum’s Specimen-Style Exhibition
Composite Bodies and What Modern Scans Revealed
For many years, the Feejee Mermaid was commonly described as a monkey sewn to a fish. That explanation captured the basic idea of a composite fabrication, but modern investigations of surviving Feejee-type specimens have shown that the reality was often more complicated. Different examples were assembled from different materials and techniques.[Live Science]livescience.comLive Science The Feejee Mermaid: Early Barnum HoaxLive ScienceThe Feejee Mermaid: Early Barnum HoaxSeptember 9, 2016 — 8 Sept 2016 — The Feejee Mermaid (sometimes spelled Fiji Mermaid and…
Research on preserved mermaid specimens in museum collections has used X-radiography, CT scanning, microscopy and DNA sampling to look beneath their surfaces. These studies have repeatedly found sophisticated constructions involving fish parts, papier-mâché, wood, wire, fabric and other materials rather than simple monkey-and-fish combinations. The Horniman Museum’s well-known specimen, for example, was found to contain fish-derived elements alongside manufactured components rather than an intact monkey torso.[Hyperallergic+2Museu.MS]hyperallergic.comhow a fake monster creeped into our museumsHow a Fake Monster Crept Into our Museums15 Jan 2018 — However, it's not clear if the Peabody mermaid is Barnum's Feejee mer…
The results are important because they reveal how the hoax operated mechanically. The creators were not merely stitching animals together. They were building convincing artefacts designed to survive close visual inspection. Features such as teeth, scales, claws and skeletal-looking contours created the impression of biological structure even when internal examination showed a largely artificial framework.[Museu.MS+2Coney Island USA]museu.msA mermaid model of a sprite: The Horniman Museum's 19th…1 May 2015 — People used to think they were made by sewing a monkey to a fish…
Modern scanning has also demonstrated how difficult it can be to identify the exact construction history of individual specimens. Many surviving examples differ substantially from one another, and claims that a particular specimen is Barnum’s original mermaid are generally unsupported. The uncertainty itself has helped sustain the object’s mythology over time.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) Mermaids UncoveredResearchGate(PDF) Mermaids UncoveredApril 1, 2014 — Lack of honest depictions of, and information about, the Feejee Mermaid has allowed s…
Why Restricted Access Helps Specimen Hoaxes
The Feejee Mermaid highlights an enduring feature of specimen-based hoaxes: they gain credibility from being visible but not fully accessible.
What the Feejee Mermaid Teaches About Cryptid Evidence
The lasting significance of the Feejee Mermaid is not that many people believed in mermaids. Its importance lies in showing how a hoax can imitate the appearance of scientific evidence.
The specimen borrowed several features normally associated with genuine discovery:<div class="content-enhancement content-enhancement--insight-grid" markdown="1">
- A preserved physical body rather than a verbal claim.
- A story of exotic geographic origin.
- References to experts and naturalists.
- Public exhibition in settings associated with education and investigation.
- Limited opportunities for independent verification.[The New Yorker+2Wikipedia]newyorker.comThe New Yorker What PT. Barnum Understood About AmericaThe article discusses P. T. Barnum, a 19th-century American showman, who skillfully understood and capi…</div>
Those elements created an illusion of testability. People felt they were confronting evidence rather than hearsay, even though the evidence itself had been manufactured. In the broader history of cryptozoology, the Feejee Mermaid remains a classic example of how specimen hoaxes spread: not by avoiding science entirely, but by borrowing scientific language, display practices and authority while keeping decisive scrutiny just out of reach. Horniman Museum and Gardens+2Horniman Museum and Gardens[horniman.ac.uk]horniman.ac.ukunmasking the mysterious mermanOur specimen was acquired by the Wellcome Collection in 1919 under the name Japanese Monkey-fish.Read more…
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Further Reading
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The Museum of Hoaxes
Places the Feejee Mermaid within a larger history of fabricated evidence.
The Humbugs of the World
Provides firsthand context for the era and culture that produced the Feejee Mermaid.
Abominable Science!
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Endnotes
1.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: P. T. Barnum
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum
2.
Source: coneyisland.com
Link:https://www.coneyisland.com/shof-attractions/feejee-mermaid
3.
Source: hyperallergic.com
Title: how a fake monster creeped into our museums
Link:https://hyperallergic.com/how-a-fake-monster-creeped-into-our-museums/
4.
Source: museu.ms
Link:https://museu.ms/article/details/109413
5.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: Research Gate(PDF) Mermaids Uncovered
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261704591_Mermaids_Uncovered
6.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Fiji mermaid
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_mermaid
7.
Source: hoaxes.org
Title: the feejee mermaid
Link:https://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_feejee_mermaid
8.
Source: livescience.com
Title: Live Science The Feejee Mermaid: Early Barnum Hoax
Link:https://www.livescience.com/56037-feejee-mermaid.html
9.
Source: horniman.ac.uk
Title: unmasking the mysterious merman
Link:https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/unmasking-the-mysterious-merman/
10.
Source: newyorker.com
Title: The New Yorker What P
Link:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/05/what-p-t-barnum-understood-about-america
11.
Source: horniman.ac.uk
Title: manmade mermaids
Link:https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/manmade-mermaids/
Additional References
12.
Source: brucemuseum.org
Link:https://brucemuseum.org/exhibitions/unraveled/
13.
Source: thesun.co.uk
Link:https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27140463/mummified-half-monkey-half-fish-fiji-mermaid/
14.
Source: facebook.com
Title: in 1842 pt barnum began promoting a new curiosity he called the feejee mermaid i
Link:https://www.facebook.com/HISTORY/posts/in-1842-pt-barnum-began-promoting-a-new-curiosity-he-called-the-feejee-mermaid-i/10156286501596184/
15.
Source: ripleys.com
Title: The Fiji Mermaid: History’s Most Infamous Maritime Hoax6 days ago —
Link:https://www.ripleys.com/stories/fiji-mermaid-hoax
16.
Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/SideshowPerformer/comments/1nes7rf/a_fijifeejee_mermaid_is_a_sideshow_gaff_fake/
17.
Source: facebook.com
Title: it’s one of my favourite things in the British Museum
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/londontraveltipsandhacks/posts/775042880827488/
18.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/Archaeology.Prehistoric/posts/2502014069947787/
19.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/ancientoriginsweb/posts/explore-the-intriguing-story-of-the-mummified-mermaid-discovered-in-japan-from-i/906033501565181/
20.
Source: radiologybusiness.com
Title: fiji mermaid northern kentucky university
Link:https://radiologybusiness.com/topics/medical-imaging/radiography/fiji-mermaid-northern-kentucky-university
21.
Source: travsd.wordpress.com
Title: barnums best bunkum 1 the feejee mermaid
Link:https://travsd.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/barnums-best-bunkum-1-the-feejee-mermaid/
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