Our Own Oddities

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!.

Our Own Oddities
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

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]

References
  1. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 300. ISBN 9780472117567.
  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. Sue Ann Wood, "Stab at Humor Is Not Funny," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 29, 1988.
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