(Picture from The Mertailor)
Sophia, that is, not me. I’ve long ago given up my dreams of gliding siren-like through clear water, hair streaming back and glittering tale flashing. Well, I had until I started poking around on the old interwebs to find a mermaid tail fin for Sophia to take on holidays with us this year.
I found (and bought) this:
(And yep, I’ll be the mother on the side of the pool trying to squeeze her adult feet into this kid-sized fin)
But I also uncovered a treasure trove of watery wonderfulness.
I’ve always been obssessed with underwater worlds and as a kid I used to hold my breath as long as I could while I studied the play of sunlight on the wonderful natural slate that lined the pool of my childhood home. I thought if I practised long and hard enough and wished for it vehemently enough, I would sprout gills just like the little chimney sweep child in the Water Babies book I loved so much.
(Pics by me from my 1979 edition of Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, illustrated by Linley Sambourne)
Long story short, I didn’t grow gills. And to be honest I think the only thing that will be growing on my neck in the future is some unsightly wattle. Which presumably won’t help me breathe under water.
Anyway, while I’m sorting out the whole “become half fish half human thing” I might have to pay a visit to The Mertailor because he can make me a tail like this.
Isn’t that dreamy? I must confess, though, that my fantasies of being a mermaid don’t include porno music of the type the gliding lass in the video is enjoying. But that’s just a minor quibble.
The Mertailor got his initial inspiration from visits to the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park as a kid. This is a place that bills itself as the Only City of Live Mermaids!
The young Mertailor even spent a week at one of their Mermaid Camps and well the rest, as they say, is fishtory. HAHAHAHAHA.
Weeki Wachee is my dream holiday destination. It’s kitschy, historical and brimming with mermaids who perform daily shows.
In the meantime, I’m going to track down a copy of this film.
It was filmed at Weeki Wachee and looks utterly divine.
(Pictures from allstarpics.com)
And I know this takes away a tiny bit of the magic, but isn’t this the most gorgeous photo of Ann Blyth being helped out of her mermaid suit?
twirlingbetty.wordpress.com 
How utterly divine does Mr Peabody and the Mermaid look, I would love to see that film. You are so right, there is something beautifully magical about mermaids. I think I might get some of those Mermaid flippers for myself.
Maybe in a past life you were a resident of Atlantis(?)…..;)
My sister and I used to spend countless hours in the community pool pretending we were mermaids. We even got pretty good (in our estimation) at swimming without kicking our feet separately. I sort of love that mermaid tail!
ya coooooool pleaseeeeeeeeee help me im sooooooooooooooooo sad that i CAN NOT ! find a mermaid fin under £20 (cry cry cry cry cry cry ) if you help me ill help you as much as i can :C :C :C :C
Where do u bought the monofin? I was searching it!
Hi Elin,
I got mine online from an Australian store. Not sure where you are but if you Goole Mermaid Monofin a whole heap of US stockists come up. Good luck.