Our Own Oddities

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Our Own Oddities
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Ralph Graczak's Our Own Oddities (January 25, 1953)
Author(s)Ralph Graczak
Current status/scheduleConcluded weekly strip
Launch dateSeptember 1, 1940 (September 1, 1940)
End dateFebruary 24, 1991 (February 24, 1991); 50 years
Alternate name(s)St. Louis Oddities
Publisher(s) St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Genre(s)Bizarre facts

Our Own Oddities is an illustrated panel that ran in the Sunday comics section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from September 1, 1940 to February 24, 1991. [1] The feature displayed curiosities submitted by local readers and is often remembered for its drawings of freakish produce, such as a potato that resembled Richard Nixon. The style of the panel was very similar to Ripley's Believe it or Not! .

Contents

Publication history

When it began September 1, 1940, it was titled St. Louis Oddities. The title changed in the late 1940s. [1]

Graczak retired from the newspaper in 1980, but he continued to produce the panel for ten more years in addition to doing a talk show on St. Louis's KMOX radio. [2] He died of a heart attack August 3, 1997. [3]

Content

The curiosities, including actual fruits and vegetables, were submitted to Post-Dispatch illustrator Ralph Graczak (pronounced Gray-zak), who each week selected several items and produced a color illustration to be printed in the Sunday paper.

In addition to bizarre produce, Our Own Oddities featured other peculiar local trivia, such as a local woman who lived at 1919 Montgomery Street and was born at nine o'clock on August 19, 1919. [2] Clever church signs and tombstone epitaphs were popular features.

Anniversary special

In September 2003, the Post-Dispatch accepted submissions for a 63rd anniversary special of Our Own Oddities. [4] The best submissions, including a duck-shaped cucumber and a woman born on December 7, 1941, with the initials W.A.R., were illustrated by Post-Dispatch artist Dan Martin and featured in the October 6, 2003, edition. [5]

Controversy

Despite its quaint illustrated style and typically benign subjects, the feature was the cause of controversy when on May 24, 1988, it included a sign on a truck-repair shop that read "These premises protected by a pit bull with AIDS." [6] The newspaper printed several angry letters. Graczak and the newspaper's features editor expressed regret. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 300. ISBN   9780472117567.
  2. 1 2 John M. McGuire, "Still Odd after All These Years," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 27, 1990.
  3. Victor Volland, "Ralph Graczak; Longtime Artist at Post Drew Our Own Oddities," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1997.
  4. "Are We as Odd as We Used to Be?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 3, 2003.
  5. Jeff Daniel, "It's Odd That You Should Mention It," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 6, 2003.
  6. 1 2 Sue Ann Wood, "Stab at Humor Is Not Funny," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 29, 1988.