This is a free, ticketed Esotouric walking tour (only one ticket per person, please) that is also a memorial procession honoring the short life and the long, weird afterlife of Elmer McCurdy, a train robber and safecracker who was shot dead by an Oklahoma posse in 1911 and who has deep roots on Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

Estranged from his family and unclaimed by next of kin, Elmer’s corpse was mummified and exhibited as a carnival sideshow attraction until 1976, when the body was recognized as a human corpse by a crew member of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” taken into the Coroner’s custody, and became international news.

For most of his posthumous career, Elmer was in possession of showman Louis Sonney, who operated a touring true crime wax museum with a brick and mortar location on Main Street. It was a ticket from this venue found shoved into Elmer’s mouth that helped to identify him.

When they learned Elmer had been found, Old West historians in Oklahoma sought permission to bury him in the Boot Hill Cemetery in Guthrie.

On April 14, 1977, newspaper headlines blared ELMER MCCURDY IS GOING BACK HOME. On April 15, the body was taken to LAX, and on April 16 shipped east. Elmer was buried on April 22, and his grave sealed with cement to ensure no more wandering.

We believe the folks who claimed the body meant well, but Oklahoma was not Elmer’s home. He came from Maine and spent much of his posthumous career in California. Oklahoma was merely the site of his crimes, of his violent death and of the initial desecration of his corpse. In California, he made countless people laugh and scream with delight.

Elmer McCurdy’s Main Street Revival is happening on April 15 because that is the last possible date on which his friends and fans in Los Angeles could have absconded with his corpse in order to hold a local funeral ceremony. And while that didn’t happen in real life, maybe it should have happened… and now, almost 50 years late, it is happening!

We will be accompanied on this procession by Elmer McCurdy himself (thanks to Al Guerrero), there will be prayers for his immortal soul from Bishop Dylan Littlefield, and the walk will conclude at the historic Million Dollar Theatre for a funeral reception.

Guests are encouraged to bring with them a personal treasure that symbolizes their Los Angeles. Rev. Dylan Littlefield will be blessing the artifacts, and sending them home with all attendees to weave a web of love, faith and hope across the City.

Friends and fans of Elmer McCurdy are cordially invited to be part of this long overdue memorial. There will be stories of Elmer told along the way—some true, others tall tales that cannot be confirmed, but which we believe to be true.

Participants are encouraged to dress up in the spirit of the honoree and his lively life and weird afterlife, to bring musical instruments or noisemakers, and offerings of flowers, fruit, feathers, pebbles or coins. There will be opportunities to express your love for Elmer.

Some of the colorful characters who Elmer rubbed shoulders with in life and in death, who might inspire your costuming, include:

• Old West Outlaws and Lawmen
• Morticians and Coroners
• Carnival Barkers and Sideshow Entertainers
• B Girls and Taxi Dancers
• Tattoo Artists and Clients
• Gospel Shouters and Sidewalk Loiterers
• Exploitation Movie Cast and Crew
• Newspaper Reporters and Hard-Boiled Editors

Or something completely new, imagined by you, to honor the dearly departed Elmer McCurdy, who is also the subject of a much anticipated musical opening on Broadway this season, “Dead Outlaw.”

Join us in loving memory, as we seek to make Main Street weird again.

MEETING INSTRUCTIONS:

Tour begins at 12 noon sharp, with check-in time 11.30am at the patio outside Grand Central Market in front of Maple Block BBQ at 324 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Please arrive on time and proceed to the check in table to get signed in and logged in to the smartphone slideshow. Scroll down for tour rules and recommendations.

Parking & Public Transit:

There are numerous paid public parking lots around Grand Central Market, including GCM’s multi-level lot at 308 South Hill Street Los Angeles, California 90013.  The nearest Metro stations are Civic Center/Grand Park and Pershing Square. If using public transit, this link can help you plan your trip:

TOUR RULES & RECOMMENDATIONS

BE PREPARED: This is a walking hour lasting 2 hours, over level ground moving at a casual pace. Wear comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and a hat, and note the suggested costume ideas above. Bring your smartphone so you can view the tour slideshow. We will have a cooler with cold water, and you’re encouraged to bring a full water bottle. A restroom will be available at the start and end of the tour. If you need more information about what to expect, please email us.

COVID SAFETY: At this time, we no longer require that masks be worn on walking tours.

CAMERA POLICY: We welcome all documentation of Elmer’s celebration of life, photos or video. If sharing online, please tag Esotouric (on most social media platforms) and use the hashtag #elmermccurdysmainstreetrevival

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY: If you feel like you’re getting sick, if you test positive for Covid-19, or if you have knowingly been in contact with a positive case of Covid-19 in the last 7 days, please do not attend the tour. Let us know not to expect you so we can release your reservation.

CONTACTING US ON OR BEFORE TOUR DAY:

Emailing is the best way to communicate with us, but after 8am on tour day you can call or text Richard on his mobile phone, 213-915-8687.