tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post7258659785859825072..comments2024-03-16T18:38:15.627-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Geek Highways, Day 7: From Humbug to the MesozoicMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-2461924701065023642014-03-25T12:11:02.091-07:002014-03-25T12:11:02.091-07:00The Zallinger mural as a gateway drug to science.....The Zallinger mural as a gateway drug to science...<br />I wonder how many scientists of an earlier generation were steered that way because of sitting through the Stravinsky sequence in Disney's "Fantasia"?Larshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07915440101940467640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-17731664918830082482014-03-25T08:50:41.413-07:002014-03-25T08:50:41.413-07:00"On the way out, I was tempted to buy the set..."On the way out, I was tempted to buy the set of Pez dispensers immoralizing the cast of The Lord of the Rings."<br />Bit of a Fraudian slip there, Mr. Swanwick...DRickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819821874290886806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-46412516158478560232014-03-25T07:29:47.994-07:002014-03-25T07:29:47.994-07:00Of course, as I'm sure you knew but left out f...Of course, as I'm sure you knew but left out for smoother flow, the Cardiff Giant never belonged to Barnum -- the owners (a syndicate) refused to sell it to him. <i>Nil desperandum</i>. Barnum simply had a replica made and displayed it as the only <i>genuine</i> Giant. The syndicate sued; long story short, the whole thing ended up with the Giant's creator's admission that the original was a fake, too.<br /><br />The legendary palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh whom you mention later had from the first doubted its authenticity, calling it "a most decided humbug". It was largely religious fundamentalists who had defended it. Plus ça change. But this ties up the Barnum to Othniel flow of your blog post very nicely.<br /><br />Sidenote: It was evidently one of the owners of the Giant who, seeing the crowds lining up to look at Barnum's fake fake giant, uttered the famous "There's a sucker born every minute" line that is now generally attributed to Barnum himself.<br /><br />Barnum's Fiji Mermaid was also, of course, a fake. When that hoax was uncovered, he with a staggering display of swift-thinking showmanship simply changed the signage and continued to exhibit "her" as the one and only genuine <i>fake</i> Fiji Mermaid.--Mario R.JJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404985455733545060noreply@blogger.com