Someone found my ex....

pegleglooker

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I think this is why my parents said to clean my room ;D ;D ;D

PLL

Mummified Mermaid Uncovered in Child’s Treasure Chest
August 20, 2007 by osmojoe
mermaid_mummified_a_01b.jpg

UCCMR, CAMBRIA, CALIFORNIA: Earlier today, in the quiet seaside town of Cambria, CA, eight-year-old Nathan Kasugai Hopkins made a horrifying discovery as he uncovered a mummified mermaid in his heirloom treasure chest. The mermaid was estimated to be at least 400 years old.

Taurella Hopkins, Nathan’s mother, said that “the chest was an heirloom passed on to me from my grandfather, who was a sailor.” It is theorized that the mermaid was captured, dried, and cooked in the sun until crispy, and was then preserved in a dark chest for hundreds of years. The quick drying and subsequent preservation may account for the intact hair strands emitting from the mermaid’s head.

Nathan cut his index finger on one of the mermaid’s razor-sharp teeth, but suffered no further injuries.

The Hopkins donated the specimen of Mermaidius horribilis to the UCCMR. The Hopkins then incinerated the treasure chest in a mixture of formaldehyde, alcohol, paint thinner, and battery acid.

No other mermaids were uncovered at the Hopkins’ residence.
 

aa battery

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I like blonds................. :o
 

Oroblanco

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;D :D

I am not sure what to make of this thing just yet, of course the odds are this is a hoax/joke but have to admit it is perhaps the most convincing "mermaid" I have seen. What do you think? Is there an instant 'giveaway' clue that shows this is a fake? Thank you in advance,
Oroblanco
 

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pegleglooker

pegleglooker

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Hey gang and Oro,
I agree.. I would be willing to bet this is for sure a fake. Iwould rather ask for the proof that it's real.....Here's the Wikipedia quote;

" The original exhibit was popularized by circus great P.T. Barnum, but has since been copied many times in other attractions, including the collection of famed showman Robert Ripley. The original exhibit was shown around the United States, but was supposedly lost in the 1860s when Barnum's museum caught fire. The exhibit has since been acquired by Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and is currently housed in the museum's attic storage area.

The Fiji mermaid came into Barnum's possession via his Boston counterpart Moses Kimball, who brought it down to Barnum in late spring of 1842. On June 18, Barnum and Kimball entered into a written agreement to exploit this "curiosity supposed to be a mermaid." Kimball would remain the creature's sole owner and Barnum would lease it for $12.50 a week. Barnum christened his artifact "The Feejee Mermaid" and began to "puff" her to the skies. In Barnum's exhibit, the mermaid was allegedly caught in 1842 by a "Dr. J. Griffin." Griffin was actually Levi Lyman, one of Barnum's close associates. "

And here's another story:

feejee mermaid : lasting hoax
by sondra nalley


mermaid2.jpg
p.t. barnum was the lou pearlman of the 1800's. without any semblance of shame, he fabricated the best entertainment the american public had ever seen. his legend lives on still 150 years later with the ever lasting popularity of his circus, and of course for his greatest hoax, the feejee mermaid.

mermaid1.jpg

the feejee mermaid was introduced to the world in august of 1842 when an englishman named dr. j. griffin stopped in new york claiming to have a real mermaid that had been captured near the feejee islands. he agreed to exhibit the mermaid for a week before taking it to a british museum. darwin had just introduced the theory of evolution, and the public was hungry for natural oddities. barnum purchased the "american museum" where the feejee mermaid was moved to and exihibited, becoming the number one attraction in america over the next twenty years.

mermaid3.jpg

the hideous creature has an uncannily wide-eyed stare. tufts of coarse hair cling to the shriveled skeleton of its head and left shoulder. only one arm remains. it bares its tiny, pointed teeth, daring anyone to voice doubts concerning its authenticity. it looked nothing like the bare-breasted maiden mermaids of the sea of which sailors told so many tales.

the "real mermaid" turned out to be the dried husk of a orangutan's torso and baboon head sewn to a salmon's tail. dr griffin was in fact a long-time friend of barnum's, whose actual name was levi lyman. but that didn't stop throngs of people from wanting to see the mermaid - even after it became public knowledge that it was a fake.
the mermaid was supposed to have burned in a museum fire in 1864 and the barnum museum created an artist's rendition and now displays the replica. in 1992, the original mermaid was discovered at the st. bonaventure university along hidden under a stairwell. it is now displayed in their arts center. with the rise in popularity, other mermaids were fabricated and "discovered" throughout the world. the most famous of these knock-offs, known as the peabody mermaid, is currently on exhibit in harvard.

why do we continue to be fascinated by the feejee mermaid well over a century after it was revealed as a hoax? long after the death of the great entertainer p.t. barnum, people still flock to see it for themselves. the feejee mermaid may be a fake, but our fascination with it is still very real.


PLL
 

Shortstack

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Bill Clinton once commented that a female mummy was good looking and that he wouldn't have minded having a date with her. Wonder what he'd think of this "beauty".
 

Shortstack

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TreasureTales said:
Shortstack said:
Bill Clinton once commented that a female mummy was good looking and that he wouldn't have minded having a date with her. Wonder what he'd think of this "beauty".

He'd think she looked too much like Hillary! ;D

:thumbsup: ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

And HE should know. He is one of the few who've seen her nekkid. ::)
 

Oroblanco

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Hmm - is this the polly-ticks forum? :icon_scratch: I knew something smelled FISHY. ;D Just kidding of course - it is interesting though to consider "what if" some species did evolve into some sort of aquatic equivalent of homo-sapiens. We need only look at the strange evolutions that actually happened to see that it is not absolutely impossible. The skeptics smile at the idea of mermaids - BUT- they were SMILING at the stories of GIANT SQUID only a few years ago, and telling us they were all the product of the active imaginations of drunken sailors, remember? Should I now point out the sheer size of the giant squids, in comparison to the "reported" size of mermaids?

If science were not quite so conceited with our current levels of knowledge, and would actively investigate the unusual reports - I would have much greater respect for them. As things stand, new species are "discovered" almost on an annual basis, and not just tiny bacteriums - whole herds of bison and even elephants. So if they could "miss" something the size of a herd of elephants on dry land, which is supposedly so fully explored and populated that NOTHING could possibly be unknown, then what could science miss in the Big Blue, which is still largely un-explored?
Oroblanco
 

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pegleglooker

pegleglooker

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" We need only look at the strange evolutions that actually happened to see that it is not absolutely impossible. "

Ahhhhh you mean like a platypus ???

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Oroblanco

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Good example - or the whale! Whales started out their existence on earth as aquatic creatures, evolved into land creatures (picture a land whale!) then went back to living the aquatic life. For that matter, a mermaid need not be a FISH, it could be a MAMMAL - for we have aquatic mammals that do very well thank you, and some have VERY high intelligence - like dolphins for instance.
Oroblanco
 

Shortstack

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The Duckbill Platypus as well as the Giraffe are certain examples that God has a sense of humor. :icon_study:
 

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