In the nineteenth century, PT Barnam, considered the king of wonders and fraud, assured the world in the existence of a creature that had nothing to do with reality. Yes, talking about the notorious “Fiji Mermaid” – a creature that looked like half a fish and half a small human being.
In 1842, Barnam persuaded New York newspapers such as “New York Herald” to publish news of this strange fairy. These news gave public curiosity and people began to move to the museum of Barnam.
This creature was presented in the “American Museum” made by Barnam, where everyone, from natural experts to ordinary people, became infected.
However, research later revealed that this “Fiji Mermaid” was actually made by the back of a monkey with the back of a large fish – that is, a complete counterfeiting.
According to historians, the sample was originally prepared by Japanese sailors around 1822, and the original statue later burned in a fire. However, many museums around the world still claim that they have a “real” Fiji Mermaid.
Barnam was specialized in this kind of fraud. At one point he had also claimed that he had purchased a slave woman who was coming to George Washington. Samples like fake giants were also placed in his museum.
About a century later, renowned expert Robert Rapley kept Fiji Mermaid in his New York museum with the announcement that it was a complete fraud. He told people that this was just an artistic trick, not the truth.
Even today, “Ripley’s Believe it or not” is “Fiji Mermaids” in centers. There are some old circus samples, while many modern artists such as food are made.
In the burns of the kabana, some of the hands are made of chicken or crocodiles, whose structure is made from sterophome, and the real fish skin is dried.
