Cryptids & Curiosities: The Fiji Mermaid

In 1842, a curious specimen of a 'mermaid' beguiled visitors at Barnum's American Museum in New York City. An elaborate fake, the Fiji (or Feejee) Mermaid was the quintessential 'humbug' in dime museums across the United States. The Legacy of Dime Museums and the Freakshow : How the Past Impacts the Present – AASLH The Mead's Mermaid | 4/2017 | Amherst College Buxton Mermaid origins probed at University of Lincoln How 13th-Century “Mermaid Bones” Came to Be Displayed in a Japanese Temple P.T. Barnum & the Feejee Mermaid The Feejee Mermaid: Early Barnum Hoax | Live Science Fiji Mermaid, Original Fiji Mermaid Display, Oddities, Curiosities - Oddities For Sale has unique Centaur of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee Blog: Margaret Cooter - Dime Museums The Dime Museum - The Atlantic Dime Museum Freaks | The San Francisco Examiner, 17 May 1899 How a Fake Monster Creeped into our Museums | Hyperallergenic Follow us on IG: @themorbidmuseum Email us at themorbidmuseum@gmail.com Artwork: Brittany Schall Music: "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Kevin MacLeod 2022 All Rights Reserved