January 24, 2021, by Tosh Berman

 

January 24, 2021

I just started to read the biography on Charles Addams by Linda Davis, and it brings me memories of being a fan of his work when I was a child. I'm trying to figure out how I got into him, and for sure it was before the TV series "The Addams Family." I liked the Addams Family, but I was more of a fan of his other stuff. Such as his work in the office working world and just the everyday absurdity of life as it is played out in Addams' mind and drawings. It seems he was a boyfriend to Greta Garbo and quite a ladies' man. Lately, I have been reading up on the playboys of the western world from decades ago. I'm attracted to that world because I don't feel I have ever participated in that landscape. I'm one of those fellows who sees a girl, and my technique is to wait for them to approach me. I figured if I sit there long enough, eventually, they will notice me. 

I did a lot of that in High School, and if you find the right spot, you can just sit there and wait. School was never a significant interest for me, except for the quad steps that lead to the lunch area because that is where you will meet people. The girls I met a school were and still are important to me. I do keep in contact with some, but there are some that I lost touch with, and it seems no one knows where they are or if they even exist on this planet. There is a danger to look back because one doesn't see the luggage that comes with it. 

So, yeah, Charles Addams. As a music lover, there is a cartoon where the Receptionist for a business notices at 5pm that the little musicians leave to go home from their muzak studio on the office wall.  It reminds me as a kid watching Lassie on TV, and my dog Rover would bark at Lassie on the small screen. He also went to the back of the TV set to see if there was an opening to get inside the set. For my dog, that was logical thinking. It was the first time I noticed an animal thinking logically about a situation. There's a dog in the box, and therefore…  

Addams caught those moments with The Addams Family as well as others in his work. It's like starting on ground zero and then using your knowledge to understand what's happening at the moment. There is something very Wittgenstein about Charles Addams.