Rhonda
"Hoover, Jan J ERDC-EL-MS" wrote:
>
> My recent posts got lost in cyberspace. I believe that the problem has been
> corrected.
>
> Here is a site that shows locations of known mer-people specimens:
>
> > http://www.roadsideamerica.com/merpals.html
> >
>
> Also, re the dugong-mermaid confusion:
>
> The mermaid Jay was writing about is a Fiji (or Fee-Gee) mermaid - named
> after P.T. Barnum's famous hoax. There are approximately 10 known on
> display in the US (There are probably more in private collections). These
> mermaids (merfolk- some are men) were made by taxidermists during the 1800s,
> possibly into the early 1900s. The upper parts were sometimes fabricated by
> artists, but often consisted of shaved monkeys or small apes, which were
> then grafted on the trunk and tails of fish or rarely porpoises. Sources of
> these specimens were areas of the South Pacific and Japan where their annual
> creation was a rite associated with fishing traditions. Frank Buckland, the
> British fisheries biologist and naturalist, apparently examined some of
> these to confirm/refute their authenticity. Remember that mermaid sightings
> were taken seriously though much of the 19th century and there was a rash of
> reports then from Scottish waters.
>
> Re the "dugong" terminology - This is partly because sea cows were allegedly
> the inspiration for most mermaid encounters (highly unlikely given
> constraints of geography, and given proximity and reliability of some
> observers), and because dugongs were believed to exhibit human and monstrous
> behaviors. Jules Verne was responsible for a lot of misconceptions re
> dugong behavior and biology; his errors re dugongs (and giant squid)are
> listed and corrected by Richard Ellis in his books. I have seen at least
> one famous 19th century woodcut of a dugong and a mermaid together, which
> emphasized their lack of similarity, but I do not know the artist.
>
> For those interested in mermaids - as folklore, as sideshow gaff, or as
> cryptozoological phenomena - here are some readily available books that I
> can recommend highly:
>
> Sea Enchantress by Gwen Benwell and Arthur Waugh
> Monsters of the Sea by Richard Ellis
> Animal Fakes and Frauds by Peter Dance
> The FeeJee Mermaid and other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History by Jan
> Bondeson
>
> Mermaid Trivia Question - Columbus reported a mermaid sighting that probably
> was a manatee. Do you know of any other famous North American explorers that
> reported close-up encounters with mermaids ?
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom and Lanita Watson
> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 10:05 PM
> To: nanfa-digest_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: NANFA-- Mermaids in Seattle
>
> Jay,
>
> I don't know if you have been there, but 'Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe is still
> a waterfront attraction in Seattle. Today it resides in a modern building
> by it's self on a pier on Elliot Bay. In the early sixties it was a small
> store front very "dark" shop on Alaskan Way. To a young boy looking for
> entertainment, the shop was full of fantasy fulfillment. There were
> shrunken heads, Sylvester the mummy, and indeed the mermaid pictured in your
> article. They are all still there today.
>
> Interspersed with these marvelous items were all kinds of inexpensive
> imported items like sea shells, lays, and Mexican jumping beans. All for
> sale of course.
>
> There were competing curiosity shops. One nearby sported a "giant Puget
> Sound octopus". I later encountered larger on the beach in West Seattle.
> No competitor matched Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe.
>
> The organization I run brings children here from over seas. Even though the
> ambience there is not as good as my youth, I still enjoy watching the faces
> of the children as the "discover" Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe.
>
> Every kid should get a good dose of fantasy.
>
> Tom
>
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