Dolphina at Bimbo’s 365 Club

Bimbo's 365 Club is still an active music venue in San Francisco. But, according to news on their own website, they seem to have abandoned a long proud tradition: Dolphina, the miniature live nude woman who swims in a fishbowl with goldfish.

How was this illusion achieved? When Dolphina was profiled in the NY TIMES in 2011, we learned:

IT’S AN ILLUSION A catacomb of tunnels in the bowels of the club leads to a small room containing a rotating platform on which the live “mermaid” reclines, naked. A periscope with angled mirrors projects her image up into the fishbowl where it appears that a tiny mermaid, about six inches long, is floating in an underwater grotto.

One at least hopes that the statue to an ideal Dolphina, erected in 1952 inside the club, still has a place of honor.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 02, 2015
Category: Entertainment | Public Indecency | Fish | 1950s

Comments

You just take the mystique out of everything, Paul. Next you'll be publishing that there really isn't a 6ft tall rabbit that lays multicolored eggs.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/02/15 at 09:58 AM

Man, I haven't been to Bimbo's since the late 70's. I remember a fairly close little place where you were pretty much nose to nose with the performers. I also remember seeing a statue but not the bar display. It could be that the mermaid had the night off.

Posted by KDP on 03/02/15 at 10:40 AM

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