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Date: | Fri, 27 Feb 1998 11:44:17 -0500 |
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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
>
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