A Fiji mermaid (also Feejee mermaid) was a common feature of sideshows. During the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, it was a staple of wunderkammers. They were often people afflicted of sirenomelia or a dugong.
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Description
It is presented as a mummified body of something, supposedly a creature that was half mammal and half fish (like a grotesque version of normal mermaid stories).
History
The original exhibit was popularized by circus great P.T. 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 supposedly lost in the 1860s when Barnum's museum caught fire. The exhibit has since been acquired by Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and is currently housed in the museum's attic storage area. 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 Feejee 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.
Media
The Fiji Mermaid was also featured in The X-Files episode Humbug, where the episode circled around freakshows and had a memorable guest performance by Jim Rose. In Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses one character is murdered and his corpse is transformed into a Fiji Mermaid via taxidermy. The Fiji Mermaid was also made by Wizkids into a game piece for their monster-related collectible miniature game Horrorclix, in their circus-themed expansion Freakshow.
