The D'Oench Family's Copy of The Chas Addams Mother Goose

An interesting copy of The Chas Addams Mother Goose (New York: Windmill Books, 1967) came up on the AbeBooks platform this past May, offered for $700 by a Middlebury, Vermont, bookseller named—I kid you not—Browsing Is Arousing. The book was described as signed and inscribed by Charles Addams with an original drawing of a hockey player. The only seller image, alas, was a tiny thumbnail of the front dust cover which only got blurrier when enlarged.

The Chas Addams Mother Goose

AbeBooks listing accessed May 11, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Charles-Addams-Mother-Goose-DRAWING-INSCRIPTION/32414355675/bd

I was quite naturally intrigued by all this but I was
unwilling to commit $700 to this book as I sometimes
do in my Sight Unseen ventures. This time I wanted
to see this hockey player to make certain it was the
genuine work of Addams. The seller complied with my
request for an image, explaining that the endpaper
was a deep blue and that he had eliminated the color
from his image.


The handwriting and signature struck me as genuine, as
did the drawing. I was delighted to see that the hockey
player is none other than Pugsley of the Addams Family.
Addams signed it in the year of publication. So I went
ahead and bought the book, taking it off the AbeBooks
market: 

Here then are my own images of the book. Write if you prefer thumbnails. 

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Arnold Roth On Ice

The National Hockey League (NHL) begins its 2017-2018 season today. Some forty years ago, cartoonist Arnold Roth envisioned the sport besieged by an energy crisis limiting the availability of ice. Fortunately, he had a practical solution at the ready.

Arnold Roth, Energy Crisis
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36
Inscribed "for Peter & Maria Rathbone/June 4th 1977"

Publication information added October 31, 2017

Arnold Roth
eBay Listing Ended May 17, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Watercolor-Art-ICE-HOCKEY-PLAYER-by-ARNOLD-ROTH-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-/121701828243?hash=item1c55fe8693%3Ag%3APEAAAOSwLVZVoX6D&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Arnold Roth
eBay Item Description

An undated Roth drawing for TV Guide depicts the NHL as a number of "cops"—one a giant—policing the sport. This may be a reference to league efforts to curtail the violent fights that threatened the sport's popularity.

Arnold Roth, NHL "Cops"
Original art, TV Guide

Arnold Roth
Chris Beetles Gallery Listing as of October 1, 2017

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/sports/american-sports/nhl-national-hockey-league-cops.html

Finally, a December 1999 illustration by Mr. Roth for Sports Illustrated depicts some wildly exaggerated Hockey Cheats with various nefarious implements of game disruption.

Arnold Roth, Hockey Cheats
Original art, Sports Illustrated, December 1999

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/RT/roth/roth2.html

Note:  It's hard to believe, but this is the first appearance of Arnold Roth on this blog. Careful readers may have noted the tantalizing appearance of a numeral 4 in the corner of the Energy Crisis artwork. This strongly suggests that there are at least three other drawings in the series out there somewhere! It also suggests, of course, that Energy Crisis was published as part of a set and not created specifically for the enjoyment of the Rathbones as the eBay seller seems to believe. Cartoon detectives, you know what you have to do.

To my mind, no blog post about illustration art is truly complete without specific and scrupulous publication information. Therefore I invite students of hockey illustration art and members of local Arnold Roth societies to provide this blog with the missing publication history for each of these hockey-themed illustrations. For that matter, I'm always eager to show scans and photos of other original art by Mr. Roth and by other New Yorker artists on just about any subject, hockey or otherwise.

October 31, 2017 Update:  On Twitter, Cary Moy has identified the publication source of the Energy Crisis artwork as Sports Illustrated's issue of December 3, 1973.

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, pages 34-35

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/40/2

Arnold Roth, Energy Crisis
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36
Inscribed "for Peter & Maria Rathbone/June 4th 1977"

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/42/2

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 39

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/44/2

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Hockey

Attempted Bloggery's Slippery Index

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Downtown Boston

Boston remains a great town to visit. After arriving by water taxi, we explored the area on foot. These six photos were taken during a walk from Faneuil Hall to the TD Garden.

Faneuil Hall, 1742

Segway tours

Under construction

Mural

TD Garden

Harry Weber, The Goal, 2010

The statue commemorates Bobby Orr's game-winning goal for the Bruins in the 1970 Stanley Cup final.

Note:  See my earlier posts about Boston.

01613

Boston on Ice

It was cloudy and cold in Boston on Sunday morning. The water on the surface of the Charles River was frozen, as was the water in the lake of the Public Garden.

Back Bay and the frozen Charles River

Old South Church and a peek into the Boston Public Library

M.I.T. across the Charles River

"We are Siamese, if you please."

Old South Church

Ringo

The Westin Copley Place

Stepped columns

Five Hundred Boylston

Beware of ice falling on Mercedes

Frozen lake in the Public Garden

Frozen lake in the Public Garden

Frozen lake in the Public Garden

To the willows, it's practically spring

Washington

01403