Our Own Oddities

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"Our Own Oddities" is an illustrated feature that ran in the Sunday comics section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch between 1940 and 1990.[1] The piece featured curiosities submitted by local readers, and is best known for its illustrations of freakish produce, such as a potato that resembled Richard Nixon. The style of the panel was very similar to that of Ripley's Believe it or Not!

The curiosities, including the fruits and vegetables themselves, were submitted to Post-Dispatch illustrator Ralph Graczak, who each week selected several items and produced a color illustration to be printed in the Sunday paper. Graczak retired from the newspaper in 1980, but continued to produce the column for ten more years.[1] He died of a heart attack on August 3, 1997.[2]

In addition to bizarre produce, "Our Own Oddities" featured other peculiar pieces of local trivia, such as a local woman who lived at 1919 Montgomery Street and was born in the 9 o'clock hour on August 19, 1919.[1] Clever church signs and tombstone epitaphs were popular features. 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."[3] The newspaper printed several angry letters in the following days, and Graczak and the paper's features editor expressed regret.[3]

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

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c John M. McGuire, "Still ODD After All These Years," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 27, 1990.
  2. ^ Victor Volland, "Ralph Graczak; Longtime Artist at Post Drew 'Our Own Oddities,'" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1997.
  3. ^ a b Sue Ann Wood, "Stab at Humor is Not Funny," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 29, 1988.
  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.

[edit] External links