Charles Addams cartoon up for auction in Glendale

Before Charles Addams created "The Addams Family," he created cartoons for The New Yorker magazine. 

An original 1942 cartoon that he created will go up for auction at EJ's Auction & Appraisal in Glendale Saturday, Sept. 26. The online auction starts at 10 a.m.. Here is a link to the catalog.

The artwork comes with the original New Yorker magazine from Aug. 1, 1942 and provenance.

The signed artwork is titled “Don’t Feel Bad, Nelson, With Normal Growth, You’ll Be In There Next Year.”

• The original artwork is signed on the lower right corner and stamped on the back with “The New Yorker Editorial Department.
• The original artwork measures 19-by-24 and is unframed.
• The artwork comes with a copy of The New Yorker magazine that includes the cartoon, published on August 1, 1942.
• Provenance includes a check written to Charles Addams for $650 to purchase the original artwork in 1979. 
• The check also includes Charles Addams' endorsed signature on the back.
• The cartoon predates the 1964 television series, "The Addams Family," by more than two decades.

The cartoon depicts a group of zookeepers holding an enormous reptile for a newsreel camera while a smaller keeper named Nelson watches from the sidelines. A colleague reassures him, “Don’t Feel Bad, Nelson. With Normal Growth, You’ll Be In There Next Year” -- a characteristically understated Charles Addams punchline.

EJ’s Auction & Appraisal is at 5880 W. Bell Road, in Glendale.