Original to Bill Tracy's 1964 installation, the "Knit Wit" gag features a little old lady in old-fashioned attire knitting quietly, only to swing around to reveal a corpse with a spider on her knitted web. The complete stunt including the wooden cabinet is 4' wide, 4' deep, and 8' tall. In 1964, the stunt's cost was $1,175.00 in Tracy's catalog.

This year, the character was completely removed from the scenery and overhauled to include reconstructed body parts that were broken, fresh paint, and a new spider web.

Unbeknownst to many, Bill Tracy may have been inspired by major motion pictures of the era when designing concepts for his stunts. Bill Tracy's Knit Wit, for example, bears an uncanny resemblance to Ms. Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho, which premiered in 1960. The concept of the Knit Wit and its physical appearance is nearly identical to Ms. Bates, but it is unknown whether this was coincidence or on purpose.

Learn more about Bill Tracy and his interesting career at The Bill Tracy Project.