The Fiji Mermaid: Barnum’s Greatest Hoax
The Fiji Mermaid: P.T. Barnum's Famous Hoax Explained
The Fiji Mermaid, also spelled Feejee Mermaid, is one of the most famous hoaxes in American sideshow history. The grotesque specimen promoted by P.T. Barnum in 1842 was presented as the preserved remains of a mermaid, but it was a manufactured curiosity rather than an unknown sea creature. Its disturbing appearance, questionable origins, and Barnum's elaborate publicity campaign turned it into one of the nineteenth century's most enduring sideshow sensations.
People did not necessarily have to believe the Fiji Mermaid was real. Barnum only needed them to become curious enough to pay to see it.
Fiji Mermaid at a Glance
- What it was: A fabricated sideshow “mermaid” designed to resemble the dried remains of a creature that was part human or primate and part fish.
- Also known as: Fiji Mermaid, Feejee Mermaid, FeJee Mermaid, and Barnum's Fiji Mermaid.
- Most famous promoter: P.T. Barnum, who turned the specimen into a major attraction in 1842.
- Associated figures: Captain Samuel Barrett Edes, Boston museum owner Moses Kimball, and P.T. Barnum.
- Famous American exhibition: Barnum promoted the Feejee Mermaid in New York in 1842.
- Evidence status: The object was a manufactured gaff, not evidence of a real mermaid.
- Historical significance: The Fiji Mermaid became one of the best-known examples of nineteenth-century sideshow deception, manufactured curiosities, and publicity-driven hoaxes.
What Was the Fiji Mermaid?
The Fiji Mermaid was a gaff, a fabricated curiosity made to look like the dried remains of a creature that was part human or primate and part fish. It was not evidence of an unknown marine animal or a real mermaid.
Descriptions of the famous specimen generally characterize it as having a monkey-like or humanoid upper body attached to a fish-like lower body. However, surviving Feejee Mermaid-style specimens are not all constructed in the same way. Investigations of similar nineteenth-century “merman” figures have identified combinations of animal remains and crafted materials including fish parts, papier-mâché, clay, fabric, teeth, claws, and other components.
That distinction is important. Barnum's famous Fiji Mermaid should not automatically be treated as a simple case of one known animal sewn directly onto another. It belonged to a wider tradition of manufactured curiosities designed to make viewers wonder where the animal ended and the trick began.
Barnum himself described the specimen as “an ugly, dried-up, black-looking, diminutive specimen, about 3 feet long. Its mouth was open, its tail turned over, and its arms thrown up, giving it the appearance of having died in great agony.”
It was a long way from the beautiful sea sirens of mythology.
Similar “monkey-fish” and merman figures were associated with Japanese curiosity-making and nineteenth-century collecting, although the exact maker, place of manufacture, and construction of the specimen Barnum exhibited remain difficult to establish with certainty. Some figures circulated as exotic curiosities, others acquired religious or folkloric associations, and still others were displayed openly as sideshow attractions.
Origins: How the Feejee Mermaid Came to America
The history of the specimen later made famous by P.T. Barnum begins before Barnum ever displayed it.
According to the commonly repeated chain of ownership, Captain Samuel Barrett Edes acquired the strange figure in the early nineteenth century after encountering it overseas. Edes brought the specimen to Britain, where it was publicly exhibited in London around 1822.
The object reportedly passed through several hands during the following years. Eventually it became associated with Moses Kimball, proprietor of the Boston Museum and a businessman with a keen eye for unusual attractions.
By 1842, Kimball had brought the specimen to the attention of his friend P.T. Barnum.
The basic chronology most often associated with the famous Feejee Mermaid is:
- Early 1800s: The specimen is reportedly acquired by Captain Samuel Barrett Edes.
- 1822: Edes exhibits the strange “mermaid” in London.
- Following years: The object's ownership reportedly changes hands.
- By 1842: The specimen is associated with Moses Kimball of the Boston Museum.
- 1842: Kimball brings the curiosity to P.T. Barnum, who launches the publicity campaign that makes it famous.
Kimball understood that the specimen's value did not depend entirely on whether anyone could prove it was genuine. Its real value was its ability to attract attention. Barnum took that principle and turned it into a spectacle.
How P.T. Barnum Made the Fiji Mermaid Famous in 1842
When P.T. Barnum became involved with the Feejee Mermaid in 1842, he did far more than place the strange object in a display case. He built a publicity campaign around it.
Barnum arranged or encouraged newspaper interest before the public exhibition opened. Promotional letters appeared under different names, helping create the impression that an extraordinary specimen had arrived and that experts were already discussing it.
One of the campaign's most famous elements was a supposed naturalist named “Dr. J. Griffin,” presented as a representative of the British Lyceum of Natural History. The impressive-sounding institution was fictional, and Griffin was not the independent scientific authority the publicity suggested.
The performance gave the Fiji Mermaid something more useful than proof: controversy.
Barnum's advertisements also played with expectations. Promotional images could suggest an attractive, almost classical mermaid while the actual specimen was small, shriveled, dark, and grotesque. Anyone curious about the difference had an obvious way to resolve the question: buy a ticket and look for themselves.
Barnum later discussed the episode in his memoir Struggles and Triumphs. His promotional strategy did not require everyone to accept the mermaid as genuine. Skepticism, newspaper arguments, and public ridicule could generate attention just as effectively as belief.
The Fiji Mermaid became famous because Barnum sold uncertainty almost as effectively as he sold the attraction itself.
What Did the Fiji Mermaid Actually Look Like?
Visitors expecting a beautiful mermaid encountered something considerably stranger.
The Fiji Mermaid was described as small, dark, dried, leathery, and contorted. Its mouth was open, its teeth were visible, and its upper body resembled a tiny skeletal or monkey-like creature that transitioned into a fish-like lower body and tail.
That grotesque appearance was one of the attraction's greatest strengths. It did not look like the elegant mermaids familiar from European art and folklore. It looked like a specimen.
For nineteenth-century audiences accustomed to museums filled with taxidermy, preserved animals, fossils, anatomical curiosities, and exotic objects from distant places, that presentation gave the figure a thin veneer of plausibility. Even someone convinced it was fraudulent might still want to know how it had been made.
The uncertainty was part of the attraction.
What Happened to the Original Fiji Mermaid?
The fate of the specimen Barnum displayed is one of the murkiest parts of the Fiji Mermaid story.
A commonly repeated account says the original was destroyed when Barnum's American Museum burned in New York in 1865. However, the historical trail is not clear enough to treat that explanation as certain. Barnum's museum collection changed over time, documentation surrounding individual curiosities can be incomplete, and multiple Feejee Mermaid-style specimens circulated during the nineteenth century.
That creates an identification problem: finding an old gaff mermaid does not necessarily mean finding the Fiji Mermaid Barnum exhibited in 1842.
Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology holds a Feejee Mermaid specimen donated by Moses Kimball's heirs in 1897. Its association with the Kimball family makes it especially interesting, but it cannot safely be identified as Barnum's original specimen. The object's precise origins remain uncertain.
Other gaff mermaids and “merman” figures survive in museum and private collections as well. Their existence demonstrates that Barnum's attraction was part of a larger tradition rather than a completely unique object.
So where is P.T. Barnum's original Fiji Mermaid today?
No one can say with certainty.
It may have been destroyed, lost, misplaced, or confused with one of the many similar objects that appeared afterward. What survived far more clearly than the physical specimen was its reputation.
The Fiji Mermaid's Legacy
The Fiji Mermaid became one of the clearest historical examples of a sideshow gaff: a deliberately manufactured object presented in a way that encouraged audiences to question whether they were seeing evidence of an impossible creature.
Its importance was never limited to the quality of the fake itself. Barnum's publicity campaign demonstrated how an extraordinary claim could become more valuable when newspapers, experts, skeptics, and curious spectators argued about it.
The more people debated whether the mermaid was authentic, the more people heard about the exhibit.
That helped turn a strange manufactured specimen into a genuine cultural artifact. The Fiji Mermaid became part of the history of American museums, carnival attractions, sideshow deception, fake creatures, and sensational publicity.
It also sits in an unusual place within the history of monsters and unexplained creatures. Unlike a cryptid sighting supported only by testimony, the Fiji Mermaid offered audiences something physical to inspect. The evidence existed. The creature did not.
Replicas, variants, and related gaff mermaids continued to appear long after Barnum's exhibition. The original specimen may have vanished, but the idea proved much harder to kill.
Inspired by Barnum's infamous Feejee Mermaid hoax, this vintage horror comic cover print turns the stitched sideshow curiosity into a strange tale from the Lair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Fiji Mermaid real?
No. The Fiji Mermaid was a manufactured sideshow gaff, not a real mermaid. It was designed to resemble the preserved remains of a creature that was part human or primate and part fish.
What was the Fiji Mermaid made of?
The exact construction of the specimen P.T. Barnum exhibited is difficult to establish with certainty. It is commonly described as combining monkey-like and fish-like parts. Other surviving Feejee Mermaid-style figures have been found to contain animal remains along with materials such as papier-mâché, clay, fabric, teeth, claws, and other crafted components.
When did P.T. Barnum exhibit the Fiji Mermaid?
P.T. Barnum began promoting the famous Feejee Mermaid in New York in 1842. His publicity campaign used newspaper attention, promotional material, controversy, and a supposed naturalist named Dr. J. Griffin to build interest in the specimen.
Where is the Fiji Mermaid now?
The fate of Barnum's original specimen is uncertain. One common account says it was lost in the 1865 fire at Barnum's American Museum, but the historical trail is not definitive. Harvard's Peabody Museum holds a Feejee Mermaid donated by Moses Kimball's heirs in 1897, although its exact origin is unknown and it cannot safely be identified as Barnum's original.
Who made the Fiji Mermaid?
The maker of Barnum's famous Fiji Mermaid is not known for certain. Similar “monkey-fish” and merman figures were associated with Japanese curiosity-making and nineteenth-century collecting, but the precise maker and construction of the famous exhibit specimen remain uncertain.
What is a Feejee Mermaid?
“Feejee Mermaid” is the historical name most famously associated with P.T. Barnum's sideshow attraction. Fiji Mermaid, Feejee Mermaid, and FeJee Mermaid are spelling variations connected with the famous hoax and with similar manufactured gaff mermaids.
Was P.T. Barnum the first person to exhibit the Fiji Mermaid?
No. The specimen associated with Barnum was reportedly exhibited years before he became involved, including an exhibition in London around 1822. Barnum became its most famous promoter after launching his publicity campaign in 1842.
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