Ed Gein’s Car

The summer of 1958. An odd bit of flotsam from the previous year’s arrest of serial grave robber Ed Gein put a national spotlight on the normally sedate Wisconsin summer fair circuit. A few months prior, Bunny Gibbons, a carnival concession operator from Illinois, had bought Ed Gein’s car at auction. Gibbons, like the rest of the nation, had been following the ongoing revelations from Plainfield. “I had a bright idea”, he told the press. Gibbons fitted out the maroon 1949 Ford sedan with mannequins representing Gein and his second and final murder victim - Plainfield store keeper, Bernice Worden (Note:In real life, she never was transported in Eds car, but at the time, she had some name recognition with the general public). “People want to see this kind of thing”, he said. The attraction, billed as Ed Gein’s Ghoul Car, opened at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour. Over three days, 2,000 people paid a quarter each to see the car. Besides using the car to transport the unfortunate Mrs. Worden, Gein had used it to move the numerous bodies he had dug up at the Plainfield Cemetery to his home - the infamous “House of Horrors”. Following his success in Seymour, Gibbons had bookings in Slinger, De Pere, Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay and Plymouth. Fast growing opposition from concerned citizens put an end to his plans. After being forced to close the exhibit in Slinger, fair bookings dried up. Gibbons, who had once vowed,”Someday I’ll play in Plainfield!”,returned to Illinois and soon the trail of the infamous carnival attraction vanished. Today, the whereabouts of Ed Gein’s car is unknown and there are no known photographs of the actual car. Bunny Gibbons disappears as well, but will be forever known as the first of many who tried to make serious cash off of Ed Gein. Major commercialization of the Plainfield, Wisconsin Ghoul was still two years away. The 1960 release of the movie PSYCHO opened the floodgates - but certainly no one in the summer of 1958 could have predicted the elevation of Ed Gein, the King of all Deviants, to action figure status.