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A real monster that causes a stir or a hoax that makes people look like a “PR guru”?

Referring to the Mermaid, people immediately think of a girl with the upper half of the body being a person and the lower half of the body being the tail and fins of a fish. She has a slim, sexy body, a beautiful face like a princess and a beautiful voice that captivates and goes into people’s hearts. However, that is just a fictional character created by folk.

To this day, whether mermaids are real or not, even scientists are not sure.

However, there have been many rumors, including vague evidence about this half-human, half-fish creature. Typically, the story about a “malformed mermaid” once caused a stir around the world. It is called the Fiji Mermaid or Feejee Mermaid (Fiji Mermaid) with the body and head of a fierce-looking monkey paired with the bottom half of the fish. The story of this monstrous creature is still mentioned in many scientific journals.

The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 1.

Image of Fiji Mermaid or Feejee Mermaid (Fiji Mermaid) with the body and head of a fierce-looking monkey paired with the bottom half of a fish

Strange “monsters” cause confusion everywhere

According to Ancient OriginsThe Fiji Mermaid (also spelled ‘Feejee’) was a “phenomenon” so famous in the 19th century that people everywhere were talking about it and even wanted to see it with their own eyes. .

It was exhibited in 1842 by Phineas Taylor Barnum, an American gallery and businessman, at Barnum’s American Museum, in New York City. The popularity of this strange creature has attracted many visitors to visit and, of course, bring Phineas personal profit and reputation to the museum.

The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 2.

Image of Mr. Phineas Taylor Barnum

Specifically, the story of the Fiji Mermaid in America begins with the appearance in mid-July 1842, of an Englishman named Dr. J. Griffin (actually his real name is Levi Lyman, an associate of Phineas Taylor Barnum). He claims to be a member of the British High School of Natural History in New York.

Rumor has it that it was Griffin who was carrying a mermaid, believed to have been caught near the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. News of Griffin’s appearance, along with his strange specimen, became known to the press.

Newspaper reporters flocked to the hotel where Griffin was staying and asked to see the mermaid in person. When he gives them a glimpse of the strange creature he carries with him, they are convinced it is REAL.

Not long after, Phineas Taylor Barnum went to the offices of the major New York newspapers, to spread the word that he had tried to convince Griffin to have the mermaid on display in his museum. Phineas says that Griffin disagrees.

Phineas also said that he had prepared an advertisement in advance (including a woodcut showing the figure of a typical European mermaid) for the exhibition. Phineas is also said to have distributed 10,000 pamphlets around the city, which depict charming mermaids.

And so, before long, Griffin’s Fiji Mermaid became the hottest topic in New York at the time and Griffin finally agreed to exhibit his mermaid for a week at the Concert Hall in Broadway.

The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 3.

Fiji Mermaid Painting

The weeklong exhibition was a huge hit, and as a result Griffin allowed his “treasure” to be displayed in New York for a longer period of time, about a month. In addition to exhibiting, Griffin personally gave presentations to crowds of people who came to see mermaids.

What the public sees is certainly not the beautiful, topless mermaids depicted on Phineas’ fliers. Instead, it looked monstrous, ferocious, and terrifying. It is said that the Fiji Mermaid is actually the top half of a baby monkey attached to the bottom half of a fish. The creature’s hair was still curly, like a 100-year-old woman. But the most impressive is still the skeleton body and stiff tail behind.

Researchers believe that Phineas is not the author of the Fiji Mermaid, but this creature was born in Asia (Japan and the East Indies) and this merchant bought it from fishermen.

Hoax makes people respect as “PR masters”

Time later, people “stupid” people discovered that it was all just a hoax that Phineas worked hard to concoct with the plot to attract visitors to the museum and, of course, let him fill it up. money bag.

The famous Fiji mermaid is a man-made product. It was created in Japan around 1810 as a traditional fisherman’s art form.

The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 4.
The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 5.

It was bought by Dutch merchants, who then sold it to an American captain named Samuel Barrett Eades in 1822. Samuel paid a large sum of money to buy the mermaid, but was unable to make any money from it. its display. After his death, the Fiji Mermaid was given to his son, who sold it to Moses Kimball. Then Moses rented it to Phineas for 12.5 USD (about 286,000 VND at the current exchange rate) for 1 week. Seeing that the show’s monetization scheme seemed to work, Phineas hired another time.

After the exhibition, the Fiji Mermaid was kept at the Barnum Museum and the Kimball Museum in Boston, USA, for the next 20 years. In 1859, the Fiji Mermaid was exhibited in London and later returned to the Kimball Museum.

The world-famous malformed mermaid story: A disturbing real monster or a hoax that makes people worship as a PR guru?  - Photo 6.

The specimen believed to be the Fiji Mermaid is currently on display in the Harvard Museum of Archeology and Ethnology

Rumor has it that the Fiji Mermaid was destroyed in a fire at the Barnum Museum. However, it was only really destroyed when the Kimball Museum collapsed in the early 1880s.

Another theory is that the Fiji Mermaid still exists and is on display at the Harvard Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. While it is true that this museum is displaying a mermaid version, no one is sure if this is the original Fiji Mermaid.

Source: Ancient Origins


According to LT

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