31 Days of Spook – The Adams Family

 I hope you have been enjoying my 31 Days of Spook.  Not too scary for you… I hope.  Today I want to go down a road that happens to be another one of my mom and dad’s favorite.  The Addams Family.  I know you want to do it.  I won’t tell.  Go ahead and snap those fingers my friends while you can.  Don’t be scared. Insert evil piggy snort.

The Addams Family actually got their start in the cartoons.  No, you don’t believe me?  Well let me educate you then.  The creator of the The Addams Family was American cartoonist Charles Addams.  Charles Addams was born in Westfield, New Jersey and his cartoons reflected around the macabre and dark humor.  The Addams Family was created in 1938 and were published as cartoons in The New Yorker.

On September 18,  1964, the first weekly series of The Addams Family came on television in black and white.  The last show was aired on September 2, 1966.  Funny thing to know during this time period, WIlliam Shawn who was the editor at the time at The New Yorker refused to publish any of Charles Addams cartoons on the The Addams Family while they were on television.   WIlliam Shawn thought The New Yorker had a more refined readership.  Once William Shawn retired from The New Yorker in 1987, The Adams Family was welcomed back.

In the television series, almost every member of the family demonstrated some uniquely inhuman almost paranormal traits –

• Morticia was able to light candles with the touch of a fingertip. Morticia would also ask visitors if they minded if she smoked.  She would then cross her arms and literally start to smoke with smoke coming out in curls of smoke from her body.
• Gomez was athletic.  His cigar would light the instant he drew it out of his breast pocket and extinguished when he put it back.  Gomez could also perform mathematical calculations in his head.
• Fester generated electricity and could power a lightbulb in his mouth as a party trick.  He liked to ‘recharge’ in his electric chair.  And do you remember Fester suffering from migraines?  Do you remember the cure?  The cure was clamping his head in a vise.
• Grandmama could whip up potions of varying effects and could fly on a broom.
• Pugsley was always seen as being able to survive any mortal injuries including his sister’s regular attempts to kill him.
• Wednesday was also able to survive any mortal injuries inflicted upon her by Pugsley.  She was also strong enough to bring her father down with a judo hold.
• Lurch had Frankenstein strength.
• Thing could travel from box to box.

TRIVIA TIME MY FRIENDS –  (Don’t cheat.  The asnwers are at the bottom of this page – have fun 🙂

1. In the movie Adams Family Values, Morticia and Gomez have a third child, a little boy.  What was his name?
2. What was the one thing that Gomez liked blowing up?
3. What was Wednesday’s favorite toy named?  You know, the one that Pugsley cut the head off of.
4. What was the address to The Addams Family home?
5. What is the name of Morticia’s African Strangler man eating plant?

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answers –

1. Pubert
2. His model trains
3. Maire Antoinette
4. 0001 Cemetery Lane
5. Cleopatra