8. The Start of a Wild Ride for the Corpse of Elmer McCurdy
From the time of McCurdy’s first carnival show until his discovery at the California funhouse, McCurdy attracted millions of people. However, not all people knew that McCurdy was a real corpse. While we do not know when this information was lost, we do know that people knew he was a corpse during his first carnival journey. While we cannot be sure that people knew of McCurdy’s truth after that, we can be sure that he was sent to many carnivals after his first journey. We also know that McCurdy’s corpse started to become used for more than just festival sideshow attractions.
McCurdy’s corpse was once forfeited as security for a loan of $500. He was also on display at a theatre during the 1930s. The theatre had decided to use McCurdy as a prop in their lobby for their 1933 showings of Narcotic. We also know that the same man who told investigators the corpse was McCurdy displayed the body during the 1930s and 1940s. This man was Louis Sonny, and he was a former police officer who presented McCurdy in his Museum of Crime. Many people speculate that McCurdy’s status was lost after he left the Museum of Crime. Along with his identity, McCurdy’s travels during the 1950s and 1960s are also lost. Traveling records for McCurdy do not show up again until 1967.