Wednesday's child is full of woe—"Monday's Child"
I've written it here many times over the years when discussing Charles Addams: Although the Addams Family characters we are so familiar with today had their published origin in The New Yorker in 1938, these family members themselves weren't given proper names until the appearance of the television show in 1964. These are no doubt wise and well-considered words of mine—if only they were correct!
Wednesday, the morbidly-inclined Addams Family girl, actually received her name three years before the TV series. She is named for the day of the week in the nursery rhyme on which a child is born "full of woe."
The New York Times announced the appearance of a Wednesday doll on August 11, 1961. In a short article titled "Cartoon Child Called Wednesday is Recreated as Woeful Rag Doll," readers learned that the Addams doll would be available in early September at Brentano's and Doubleday, leading area bookstores.
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| The New York Times, August 11, 1961, p. 14 |
A few of these dolls are still around. They originally retailed for $7.98 and were created by Aboriginals, Ltd. Some color photos of the 1961 Wednesday doll, 22" high, taken from eBay are now archived on Worthpoint:
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The Times article also hints at a doll under development featuring Wednesday's brother, the as yet unnamed Addams Family boy. Today we all call him Pugsley but Addams, we know, wanted to name him Pubert. In the Times, he is just "Addams' little blond boy who keeps reptiles as pets."
The 20" doll was to be issued in 1962, again by Aboriginals, Ltd., marketed under the name Irving—in retrospect maybe not the best choice. An example of the Irving doll was sold at Hake's in 2022 for $1,667.93 including the buyer's premium:
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