The Ripley's "Believe-It-Or-Not" chain of spurious museums used to feature
feejee mermaid replicas (their top halves looking very much like dried
dead monkey, thanks) in several of their sites: Niagara Falls, St.
Augustine, Times Square?
        Whatever happened to the "Ripley's" entrepreneurial chain?  Surely
has some thesis value in the history of museums as entertainment.
Theories or nostalgia, baby-boomers?
        --David Andrews, Duquesne University

On Wed, 25 Feb 1998, Susan Wageman wrote:

> >Unfortunately...no.  When we redesigned The Barnum Museum in the late '80s,
> >we would have given plenty for the Fejee Mermaid; but it had been gone for
> >more than a century.  (However, reports that it is indeed in Bridgeport may
> >offer some clue as to how fakes, forgeries, and rumors get their "legs.")
>
> About 15 years ago, when touring the collections storage area of the
> Peabody Museum at Harvard University, I saw a construct that the curator
> said was Barnum's Fejee Mermaid. If you are trying to locate it, you might
> want to try there.
>
> Susan Wageman
> Grants and Research Manager             [log in to unmask]
> The Tech Museum of Innovation           (408) 279-7178
> 145 West San Carlos Street              fax (408) 279-7149
> San Jose, CA  95113  USA                http://www.thetech.org
>