"Okay, watch. Here's a 20-penny spike, 50-cent hammer and a no sense head. I'm going to drive this spike in my head. Watch. [Sound of hammer hitting spike.] You can see that it's only entering a little bit there. But then, as you hit it and control that hitting, it's going further and further, see?" (Melvin Burkhart, 86 years old, Human Blockhead)
At one time Gibsonton, Florida was considered the oddest town in America. The fire chief was Al Tomaini, the giant. The second deputy of police was a dwarf. The sideshow fat man was also the town's auto mechanic. And Gibsonton still boasts the only post office in the country with a special counter for midgets. "Gibtown" has long been the off-season home for carnival sideshow performers. But these days it is more of a retirement village. Radio Diaries producer Joe Richman talked to Gibtown's residents. This is their story, as originally heard on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.