10 Great Hoaxes - The Fiji Mermaid

Throughout history, there have been some hilarious, controversial, and confusing hoaxes that have been created. Hoaxes are different from urban legends, rumors, pseudoscience, or even jokes since a hoax is a deliberate and intentional attempt to create something that is false but present it as the truth. We will look at ten of the most interesting hoaxes that fooled a lot of people.

5. The Fiji Mermaid

The Fiji Mermaid is a well-known hoax that dates back to the 1840's. The idea of mermaids dates back hundreds of years. Men who had been at see for far too long reported seeing creatures that were half human and half fish. Many people have since come to believe that the manatee is most likely responsible for these sightings. However, people had for a long time tried to find and exhibit actual mermaids. Some had even been on display, though they were all found out to be fake.

In 1842, an associate of P.T. Barnum named Moses Kimball (who also had a strange wonders museum but in Boston) found the Fiji Mermaid and brought it to Barnum's attention. They agreed that Kimball would be the owner and Barnum would lease it from Kimball. Going under the name of "The Feejee Mermaid", it became a strange and popular attraction for Barnum. The story that was told to each visitor was that it was caught by a "Dr. J. Griffin", which wasn't true.

The Fiji Mermaid act has been duplicated many times over, but the original has been the most popular version. The ultimate fate of the original Fiji Mermaid is unknown. Some think that it was lost in the fire that destroyed Barnum's museum in the 1860's, and others think that it was lost in the fire that destroyed Kimball's museum in 1880. Some places say that they have the original, but the truth is that the original has been lost for well over 100 years.

The original Fiji Mermaid, it was determined, had the torso and head of an orangutan and the remainder of the body was a large salmon. It supposedly looked rather grisly, but there are no pictures of it. There are similar creations that survive to this day, but they aren't quite the same. The original supposedly had no seams that could be easily visible. From what history tells us, it was a very well-made fake. Although it didn't last long in the public, it's had a lasting effect on people. It fooled a lot of people in the 1800's into believing that mermaids truly did exist.

Bet you didn't know that!