There were a lot of domestic pottey companies and large manufacturers making mermaids back in the 40's/50's. Some of the manufacturers made the mermaids in the US, some imported from Japan, and
some did both. After WWII the US was flooded by imports from Japan because the tariff was lifted. This actually put a lot of domestic pottery companies out of business because they couldn't compete with the
cheap Japanese prices. Thus when the 60's rolled around, there were very few mermaids being produced. Some of the products
from Japan just had a label and some were ink-marked with a JAPAN stamp. Some came in a box from a manufacturer like
Norcrest with the Norcrest label on the box, but there was a Made in Japan sticker on the mermaids. It is very hard to identify
these mermaids with no labeling on them... they may have been made in Japan, and they may have been made in the US by a small
pottery company that didn't mark their items or had a paper label that is long gone. The set above is one of the cutest mermaids
ever. She came with the top of an umbrella, so I can only guess maybe someone saw how well the Enesco mermaids with umbrellas
were doing and decided to make a different one with an umbrella. This mermaid and the Enesco mermaids are the only ones I know
of that were made with umbrellas. Unlike Enesco who made theirs only in white, this one came in yellow, pink and green. I have
never seen bubbles with her, whereas the Enesco mermaids had raindrop bubbles included in the set. The quality of this piece, as is
the case of a lot of these pieces of unknown origin, is excellent. You often see her sold by herself as the umbrella is long gone – the one with the umbrella is very expensive.
Below are examples of reproductions I make of this cute mermaid - click on the picture if you'd like to order one in your color color choices!
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These gals I fondly refer to as the "block-head" mermaids. It appears they were made in Japan and
are very similar to the ones made by Kelvin and Lefton for distribution by ESD Canada. I suspect Lefton first made them, then when the tariff was lifted after the war, Japan copied them and imported to the
US. Then in the 1960's Kelvin came out with them because you don't see Kelvin coming on the mermaid scene til after the 50's. Kelvin's piece looks more
like the ESD piece than the one made in Japan. The Lefton ESD and Kelvin pieces seem to be thinner and made better (see my Lefton page for a picture
of the Lefton ESD one). They all are pretty but just observations when looking at a Kelvin, ESD and Japan one together. They only came in pink and blue tailfins, the pink being the most common color
you see. The ones distributed by ESD and Kelvin ones are ink-stamped on the backs with those manufacturer names. The others had no inkstamp. 
There were a number of minature sets
made in Japan. They typically came with 3 tiny mermaids. The set on the left has little turtles, and the set on the right has musical instruments. Then there were a number of 3 mermaid sets (below left)
without anything but over the years people seemed to add shells and soap dishes with them to make them more "useful" or just display better. They only stand 1.5" tall but they are really
cute and fit in anywhere! Most of the time you now see them sold as singles because they lost their sisters thru the years. They were made in the 50's and at least one (if not all) will have the red Bone China label.
This is a different mermaid set, they came in a set of 3 sisters. They are real flat and look newer to me so I doubt they were made in the 40's/50's. 
This is a really beautiful set that you don't see that often. No markings on it at all. The details are so fine! I have never seen any
label or markings on this set and I have seen it up close and personal 4 times, however have seen it advertised as Norcrest. The
quality is excellent but you often see paint wear on the gold hair. You hardly ever see horizontal mermaid sets, or merboys, so this
set is a very unique on to have in your mermaid displays. To the left is the original set and to the right is a reproduction I made in which I used tiny transparent beads on the tailfins.
This is a really beautiful mermaid sister set. They both have umbrellas and a set of raindrop bubbles come with them. For years I, and many other collectors, thought this set was
made by Enesco because the bubbles are marked with a 4 digit number starting with E. However, I was recently lucky to acquire a set in the original box. The set is made by Wall
Crest in Japan. It is a very pretty set but you often see little chips on the tips of the umbrellas. The chips don't really take away from the display. It is numbered E2163 and look at the price!
This is a pretty sister set made in Japan. The big sister is holding a ball (big pearl?) and the baby appears to be jetting off the wall. I have
seen this set with a plain clolored bra on the big sister, and one with polkadots. It may be that the polkadots were cold painted and some have worn off over the years. DeForect made a mermaid similar to
the baby jetting off the wall.
The two chalkware sets above were made in Japan. Note that both have "sprayed on" paint. The details are very crude expecially on the pink tailed set. 
This is a cute mermaid and very similar in size to one of the rare Freeman McFarlin mermaids. But alas the Japan marking is on the back and she has blush and lipstick
(Freeman never put blush and lipstick on their mermaids). And she is all gloss (Freeman made the top bisque matte. Very pretty mermaid tho.
These two sets are pretty similar and they are referred to as "doll like" mermaids.
The set holding the gold stars has a more rounded face and the tailfins are pearl finish. I have seen the set holding the red star with pink and gold stars. Both sets
are cute and were made in Japan. You often see them advertised for sale as made by Lefton or Norcrest, yet I can find no writings that say they were
distributed by those manufacturers. They are cute no matter who made them!