Like, gaff as in penny gaff? I have consulted dictionaries here… I’m still confused!
Gaff as in hook (I think). Something you would use if you ran a sideshow to pull in the marks. A faked item like a conjoined skull or a pickled mermaid that would help bring in the crowds.
I was about to ask the same question. What’s a “gaff” in this context?
More than likely, “gaff” is being used here incorrectly. It wouldn’t be the first time a BB piece has co-opted an industry/insider term and dropped it into a headline, but used it incorrectly.
From the (admittedly fairly cursory) look-up I did, the term seems to fit with both sideshow slang and the item. What’s incorrect about it? Just so I can use the term properly in future. 
It’s a gaff. You wouldn’t know the word, it’s kind of obscure. /prig
So, it was a gaff to use the word gaff?
Nope, perhaps a gaffe though.
At first I thought it was a typo for “gaffe” meaning faux pas or indiscretion. “The hobbyist made a gaffe in creating a replica of the remains of a boy who became a victim of grave robbing after his family refused offers to purchase his body to be exhibited as a curiosity.”
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