Master of the Macabre 1920-1947

From an early age, the younger Charles
or 'Chas' had a fascination with the macabre.
He often spent time visiting graveyards and cemeteries,
wondering at the fascinations of death

He was caught by the police for breaking into a house on Dudley Avenue.
On the second floor of the garage behind the main house there is a chalk drawing of a skeleton that is believed to have been drawn by Charles Addams.
That house on Dudley and one on Elm Street is said to be the inspiration for the famous Addams Family house. In highschool, Charles became the art editor for the Weather Vane and drew many cartoons

1932

Charles Addams began as a cartoonist in the
The New Yorker with
a sketch of a window washer.

1940

In 1940, he submitted "Downhill Skier," and that got him an offer to come on board full time for New York's premier literary magazine. He continued there until his death in 1988, drawing over 1,300 cartoons.

1942

He was high on the list of people who could sign up for the draught after the United States entered World War II because he was single and had no children. In Newark, New Jersey, on December 29, 1942, Addams was enlisted in the American Army. On March 15, 1943, Addams joined the 846th Signal Service Photo Battalion at Fort Monmouth after completing his basic training at Fort Dix. For someone with his particular talent set, only four weeks of fundamental training were required. He was given the unusual MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) of "Animation Artist" despite being 30 years old and having expertise as a cartoonist and illustrator.

He had a wife!

There were other aspects of Addams' Army existence besides the military. On May 29, 1943, while still in basic training, he married his first wife, Barbara Jean Day. Many of Addams' contemporaries would assert that Morticia, the matriarch of the Addams family, was modelled after her because they both possessed similar physical characteristics and character traits.

1946

In November 1945, magazine publisher R. H. Fleischmann
wrote to Addams asking when he could return to work

Addams had a sterling reputation
with the magazine that treated him well for a decade,
and without hesitation he asked for a discharge from the U.S. Army.

After serving for three years and three months on active service with the final rank of Technician Fourth Grade, Addams was honourably discharged on February 7, 1946. Additionally, he received a number of honors, including the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Honorable Discharge Lapel Button, and Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar. (.30 caliber to be exact).

A compilation of Addams' drawings was published, as he had intended.
His cartoons, drawings, photos, and writings were collected in ten anthologies between 1947 and 1981.
The Addams Family made their debut on the front cover of his 1957 book Dear Dead Days.
The rest, including the best-selling pinball game of all time,
a live-action and animated TV series, movies, books, and computer games, are history.
The Addams Family undoubtedly contributed to the global rise of dark humour.
Addams couldn't get rid of his eerie macabre personality with even the most fundamental training.