Charles Addams - cartoon - 1946 - pp. 34, 35 

A Gothic satire of the ideal American family, the Addams Family originated as single-panel, unrelated cartoons, many of which were first published in The New Yorker. Later incarnations have included merchandise, live and animated TV series, films, books, and a musical. Midway’s Addams Family pinball is the top-selling pinball game of all-time.  

The eccentric family is neither evil nor aware of their apparent strangeness to others. It comprises parents Gomez and Morticia, Uncle Fester, manservant Lurch, Grandmama, children Wednesday and Pugsley, and Thing, a disembodied hand. 

Addams attended the University of Pennsylvania as well as the Grand Central School of Art in New York City; a fine arts building on the UPenn campus bears his name. Per his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes interred in the section of his estate designated as a pet cemetery. 

Key elements: art, Gothic