What my wife is reading:
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| Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone, 2009 This is the seventh book in the Outlander series. |
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Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #495
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #495 for October 26, 2015. The drawing is by Drew Dernavich.
November 2, 2015 Update: The Finalists
Note: Last week Benjamin Schwartz held a psychoanalytic session in a football huddle. My caption went all Dr. Phil. Take the results of Contest #494 along to your next fifty-minute hour.
Drew Dernavich cuts a pretty good cartoon.
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| "Our cybersecurity is now squeaky clean." |
November 2, 2015 Update: The Finalists
November 16, 2015 Update: Winning Caption
Drew Dernavich cuts a pretty good cartoon.
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Thursday, October 29, 2015
Charles Addams: Standing Morticia
A souvenir drawing by Charles Addams of Morticia was sold last week at Swann Galleries in New York. Apparently she's in one of her moods.
November 14, 2016 Update: Sold again!
Note: There's further reading here about Charles Addams and it's just in time for Halloween.
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| Charles Addams, Morticia |
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| Swann Galleries October 22, 2015, Sale 2394, Lot 365 Hammer Price $1,200 |
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| Swann Galleries November 1, 2016, Sale 2428, Lot 272 Hammer Price $1,900 |
Note: There's further reading here about Charles Addams and it's just in time for Halloween.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2015
A Sign of Halloween
I spotted a couple of copies of this sign at work. This is a rare opportunity to share a Halloween pun.
Note: There are a lot more blog posts here about Halloween.
Note: There are a lot more blog posts here about Halloween.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2015
A Charles Addams Letter on the Freeport Jail
Admirers of cartoonist Charles Addams must have written to him about all sorts of Gothic architecture. We know that Mrs. John Walton Barrett of Freeport, Illinois informed Mr. Addams of the fate of the Freeport Jail, which burned down in 1962 under circumstances which are apparently considered suspicious to this day. She enclosed a photograph of the lost architectural gem. Mr. Addams responded graciously on New Yorker stationery and expressed his appreciation.
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| Scans of the letter courtesy of David from Manhattan |
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| Freeport Gothic County Jail, Freeport, Ill. postcard |
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| Addams Gothic Charles Addams, The New Yorker, October 31, 1988 |
The postcard of the Freeport Jail was recently listed on eBay. The item description explains why some residents of Freeport think the building was deliberately set on fire.
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| County Jail, Freeport, Ill. postcard |
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| eBay Listing Ended September 3, 2015 |
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| eBay Item Description |
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| eBay Bid History The last-minute bid gets it. |
The John Barrett papers were donated to the Library of Congress. Could a copy of Mrs. Barrett's original letter to Charles Addams be there?
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| The John Barrett papers |
Note: Once again I am grateful to David from Manhattan for his enthusiasm and for the use of his fascinating material.
Incidentally, the blog archives are full of information on Charles Addams and on what must have been one of his favorite holidays, Halloween.
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Monday, October 26, 2015
Charles Addams: Yes, The New Yorker
Once the [Addams F]amily appeared on television in 1964, New Yorker editor William Shawn banned them from the magazine, noting they were no longer appropriate for their sophisticated readership. The ban was lifted in 1987.
—Jen Carlsen"Charles Addams's New Yorker"
Uncle Fester from the Addams Family promotes the New Yorker in an ad which appeared in Women's Wear Daily in 1973. Cartoonist Charles Addams has drawn Fester's head and collar six times. The Addams Family uncle becomes progressively more cheerful with each drawing, while the copy describes the magazine's prowess in attracting advertising dollars in increasingly glowing terms. The ad, part of the "Yes, The New Yorker" campaign, is meant to solicit advertising in the magazine from the fashion industry. It makes use of a popular Addams Family character at a time when he and the other Addams Family characters were banned from appearing in the magazine's cartoons.
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| Charles Addams, Advertisement for The New Yorker from the "Yes, The New Yorker" campaign Women's Wear Daily, January 8, 1973, page 72
Scans courtesy of David from Manhattan
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Note: Thanks to dedicated reader David from Manhattan for having the foresight to hold onto this page from Women's Wear Daily for forty-two years! He has kept the page horizontally folded and has scanned the two halves of the page separately. Anyone in possession of similar examples or—dare one hope?— access to the original art should get in touch. Remember, no new information is too trivial.
Charles Addams is well-represented in the blog archives. Yes, the blog archives.
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Sunday, October 25, 2015
Gahan Wilson in Space
Here are two examples of original cartoon art by Gahan Wilson that are simply out of this world.
Note: Travel into the archives at warp speed for further blog posts about Gahan Wilson.
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| Gahan Wilson, "We're obviously not the first to land on this planet!" |
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| Gahan Wilson, "Remember the Big Bang?" |
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| eBay Listing Ended August 2, 2015 |
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| eBay Item Description |
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| eBay Bid History The winning bid is placed with onlyseven seconds remaining. |
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| eBay Listing Ended September 6, 2015 |
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| eBay Item Description |
Note: Travel into the archives at warp speed for further blog posts about Gahan Wilson.
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Saturday, October 24, 2015
The Evolving Gahan Wilson
Cartoonist Gahan Wilson's whales reminisce about their Darwinian past.
Note: For further home study, simply choose your favorite blog topic:
Gahan Wilson
Original cartoon art
Whales
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| Gahan Wilson, "That stretch we whales put in as land animals was a total waste of time!" |
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| EBay Listing Ended August 30, 2015 |
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| eBay Item Description |
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| eBay Bid History One last hour bid |
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| New Listing |
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| Completed Listing |
Note: For further home study, simply choose your favorite blog topic:
Gahan Wilson
Original cartoon art
Whales
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Friday, October 23, 2015
My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #494
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #494 for October 19, 2015. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.
My analyst asked me not to submit this one:
October 26, 2015 Update: The Finalists
November 9, 2015 Update: Winning Caption
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| "Some of us have boundary issues." |
My analyst asked me not to submit this one:
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| "We have to get psyched." |
October 26, 2015 Update: The Finalists
November 9, 2015 Update: Winning Caption
Note: Last week Farley Katz took us skydiving. My caption was in free fall. See the unsplattering results of Contest #493.
These links should help you to psychoanalyze Benjamin Schwartz. Couch not included...
These links should help you to psychoanalyze Benjamin Schwartz. Couch not included...
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Thursday, October 22, 2015
Gahan Wilson: Something Under the Chair
Cartoonist Gahan Wilson knows there's more than one place in the house to find a monster.
Note: This blog has more to share of Gahan Wilson's work including much original cartoon art.
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| Gahan Wilson, "It's just like that thing you've got under your bed only this one is for old people." |
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| EBay Listing Ended July 7, 2015
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gahan-Wilson-original-cartoon-from-THE-NEW-YORKER-/281740964254?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item419911f19e&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
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| EBay Item Description |
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| EBay Bid History |
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| Gahan Wilson, "It's just like that thing you've got under your bed only this one is for old people." |
Note: This blog has more to share of Gahan Wilson's work including much original cartoon art.
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