Mermaids HAVE BEEN SEEN by sailors for centuries.
The basis of all mermaid myths is supposed to be a creature called a Manatee: a kind of walrus!
Mermaids used TO BE SHOWN in funfairs until recently.
It all began in 1817 when a "mermaid" WAS BOUGHT for $6,000 by a sailor in the South Pacific.
She WAS eventually SOLD to the great circus-owner Barnum.
She was exhibited in 1842 as "The Feejee Mermaid".
It WAS SAID that she earned Barnum $1,000 a week!
The thousands who saw this mermaid must have been disappointed.
She WAS cleverly MADE by a Japanese fisherman.
A monkey’s head WAS delicately SEWN to the tail of a large salmon.
The job WAS DONE so skilfully done that the join between the fish and the monkey was invisible.
Real imagination MUST HAVE BEEN required to see this revolting creature as a beautiful mermaid combing her golden hair.