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“I invented the blockhead routine. I did it at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, and I’ve been perfecting it ever since,” he says. “There are other people banging things in their head. But not everybody does it with style.”

Burkhardt lives with his wife Joyce on the outskirts of town in a trailer that bears the bumper sticker, “God Bless This Mobile Home.” He loves to talk about the glory days of the sideshow business, and the honor among the fat ladies and geeks he called colleagues.

“We’re simple working folks, or retired folks,” he says. “We deserve a president.”

The Good Old Days

Burkhardt remembers a time more than 20 years ago when there were many so-called freaks in Gibsonton. Al Tomaini, a hulking 8-foot, 4-inch giant, was the police chief. A dwarf named Col. Casper served as the fire chief, and the post office had a lower table so that little people could sort their mail.

Tomaini married Jeanie “The Half Girl” — a woman born without legs — and the two toured the country as “The World’s Strangest Married Couple” in the 1930s before settling down. Until she died a few years ago, Jeanie ran the town’s bait and tackle shop, perched on a stool behind the cash register.

The Saga of Lobster Boy

Many in the town are reluctant to talk to the media. In many ways, Gibsonton is still recovering from the Lobster Boy saga.

Like his father, Grady Stiles Jr. was born with a genetic condition that caused his fingers and toes to fuse into two-digit claws. He propelled himself with flipper-like legs.

Stiles was a sideshow sensation. But he was said to be a violent alcoholic who even drank on stage. He was convicted of killing his daughter’s boyfriend. But due to favorable testimony from two carny neighbors — a bearded lady and a fat man — he was spared a lengthy prison term.

Stiles was later murdered by his wife and stepson (a human blockhead), who paid a hit man $1,500 to shoot him. They are all now serving time. Stiles’ son by another marriage has the same condition as his father and is also trying to make it in show business. He recently had a public access show on cable TV in Tampa. He’s also tried to sell tracings of his hands on eBay.