The following
photograph-rich article discusses mermaid artworks and artifacts
found in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York from the viewpoint of
visual anthropology and cryptozoology.
All photographs featured here were taken by Takeshi Yamada. This
manuscript was produced by Dr. Eriko N. Bond, an active art
critic and author in New York City, as told by Takeshi Yamada.
MERMAIDS IN CONEY ISLAND 2007
Article by Takeshi Yamada
and Dr. Eriko N. Bond
Part 1
“Artifact of the Dreamland fire of 1911 in Coney Island: Coney
Island Mermaid World”
12.5 x 19.5 inch, Acrylic on wood panel, Takeshi Yamada, 2005
Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York is not a large area; it
measures only about 2 miles across. Nevertheless, it is full of
mermaids unlike any other areas of New York City (and possibly
any other cities in the United States). Many mermaids are found
by the Coney Island Beach and waterfront. There is also a street
named Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. Some of the mermaids are
very old and others are quite new. They are reflections of the
culture of Coney Island which has a unique and distinctive
history. This article features over four dozen mermaids
photographed by Takeshi Yamada in Coney Island.
“Artifact of the Dreamland fire of 1911 in Coney Island:
MERMAID”
4-7/8 x 20-1/4 inch, acrylic on wood panel, Takeshi Yamada, 2007
Note: This article does not contain music pieces, people in
mermaid costumes at parades or mermaid sand sculptures
(including ones created for the annual sand sculpture contest)
because they do not exist in permanent physical forms.
Fiji Mermaids (Mummified Mermaids)
In many Asian countries, including Takeshi Yamada’s home country
Japan, man-made rogue taxidermy (also known as creative, freak,
and/or novelty taxidermy) artworks of mummified mermaids were
created for religious purposes and were enshrined as demigods
for many centuries. In Japan, mummified mermaids were enshrined
at numerous Shinto shrines and Buddhism temples. To put this in
the proper perspective, making a mummified mermaid in Japan was
equivalent to making a statue of a life-sized and life-like
Jesus on the cross in western countries.
Note: For more information, read Takeshi Yamada’s comprehensive
articles entitled “Takeshi Yamada on The Art of Mermaids” listed
below.
http://www.sideshowworld.com/TYfeejeePart1.html
http://www.sideshowworld.com/TYfeejeePart2.html
http://www.sideshowworld.com/TYfeejeePart3.html
http://www.sideshowworld.com/TYfeejeePart4.html
In the 20th century, mummified mermaids were purchased as
curiosities by westerners and brought back to America. P.T.
Barnum, the famous founder of the first American dime museum
brought one to the United States and named it the Fejee Mermaid
(also spelled Fiji or Feejee Mermaid) to make it sound exotic
and dramatic in order to appeal to peoples’ curious minds. P.T.
Barnum made the Fiji Mermaid a cultural icon of the modern
sideshow business in New York City and across the United States.
It was also Barnum who coined the modern carny term “circus
sideshow” by attaching his fledgling business to the big main
stream business of commercial circuses of the time. Not only a
successful businessman, Barnum was also a master psychologist
who manipulated the minds of the masses and created a successful
cultural brand and trend. He created a new era for the history
of sideshow.
It may be hard to believe, but as the center of the
entertainment business in America at the turn of the 19th
century, Coney Island was bigger than Hollywood, Disney World,
Six Flags, and Las Vegas combined. Fiji mermaids were proudly
exhibited at many sideshows (pay-per-view) in Coney Island
amusement parks and on midways across the nation. Later, Fiji
Mermaids were made by local American artisans who had no
knowledge of the cultural background of Asian mermaids. For the
propmaker, the mummified mermaid was nothing but a way to make
money; for the owner of the sideshow, it was nothing but a tool
to make money.
Currently, there are no commercially operated sideshows in Coney
Island or Brooklyn. Even during the peak amusement park season,
only a few traveling sideshow companies (and/or traveling circus
companies) have visited Coney in recent years. Many people think
the sideshow business in New York is obsolete today, and that as
relics of the past can only exist through subsidized tax money.
Note: Currently, there is only one commercial sideshow company
operating continually in New York City--Ripley’s Believe it or
Not Museum in Times Square which opened last year.
Today, Fiji Mermaids, mummified mermen and fish-humans are on
permanent display at only one location in Coney Island (and
possibly in all of New York City) - Takeshi Yamada’s Museum of
World Wonders. This private (by appointment only) museum of
curiosities and oddities is one block from the Coney
Island-Stillwell subway station. Yamada’s Fiji Mermaids have
been exhibited at commercial galleries and at numerous
educational and cultural institutions including the prestigious
American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, Long Island
University, Salt Marsh Nature Center in Brooklyn, and at the
Brooklyn Public Library - Coney Island Branch. Takeshi’s
creations have also been featured in numerous documentary films,
videos, TV news programs, newspapers, magazines, books and on
posters and banners in The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, and the
United States.
Note: For a community outreach educational/cultural program,
Yamada also has a running exhibit of over 100 items of his
curiosities in three “Cabinet of Curiosities” at the Brooklyn
Public Library - Coney Island branch. Unlike traditional
pay-per-view style sideshow at midways, the viewing fee there is
free.
4-foot Fiji mermaid (top), “Battle of Coney Island: Prediction
of the Holy War of the 21st Century” 4x6-foot oil/acrylic
painting on canvas, and other rogue taxidermy monstrous animals
from around the world. On display at Takeshi Yamada’s Museum of
World Wonders - East wall. (September 5, 2007)
A 6-foot Fiji mermaid and other rogue taxidermy of monstrous
animals from around the world. On display at Takeshi Yamada’s
Museum of World Wonders - North wall. (September 5, 2007)
Ornamental Mermaid
Sculptures
One of seven very old mermaids that remains on the rooftop of a
Mermaid Avenue pharmacy. Originally there were eight but one is
completely gone except its base. The mermaid above looks as if
she has been guarding Coney Island from evil spirits for
centuries.
According to Yamada, these mermaids look so dignified and
divine. They reminded him Japanese golden
Shachihoko.
Shachihoko (鯱)
is a
mythic monster with a tiger’s head and
a carp’s body that guards the Samurai lord’s castle from its
rooftop perch. Shachihoko is equivalent to the gargoyle in the
western world that ornaments and guards ancient cathedrals.
Unlike gargoyles, Japanese shachihoko are always installed as a
pair and they look at each other. Shown below is one of a pair
of giant golden shachihoko from the Azuchi
castle (安土城)
in
Azuchi city, Shiga prefecture in Japan.
The magnificent golden shachihoko of the Azuchi castle
The fish scales on the tail of this mermaid are in fair
condition. She appears to be made of iron-reinforced concrete.
The store sign of the pharmacy below her is so mismatched today.
Three of seven remaining mermaids on the rooftop. The mermaid
on the left end is completely gone from its pedestal. (September
4, 2007)
Takeshi Yamada, Sea Rabbit (“Seara”), blonde mermaid at Coney
Island Beach. (September 1, 2007)
(Continue to Part 2)
Copyright by Takeshi Yamada, Museum of World
Wonders in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, October 2007.
Revised in March 2008. All Rights Reserved.
E-mail: yamada108@aol.com
Special thanks to Dr. Eriko N. Bond, Lauren D.
Travis, and Maremi Kakushina.
Also special thanks to Kris Roth (Senior
Proofreader)
http://www.sideshowworld.com/SSA-15.html
http://www.roguetaxidermy.com/members_detail.php?id=528
http://www.horseshoecrab.org/poem/feature/takeshi.html
