This cartoon suggests that as a Bugatti owner you can, in fact, take it with you when it’s your time to go. It was drawn in 1976 by Charles (or Chas) Addams in a gentle stab at the behavior of the upper class. He was the perfect person to do such a thing as we all known him as the gothic cartoonist in the New Yorker and of course as the creator of The Addams Family. From the beginning of his career in the 1930s Chas Addams developed a sophisticated and rather morbid style of humor that made him a very popular cartoonist. Addams was also an enthusiastic lover of vintage automobiles and has owned a whole array of them. Because many of his cars were used as a theme in his drawings and cartoons, the Bridgehampton Historical Society in New York State has, together with the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, mounted an exhibit called “Cars and Car-toons”. It shows a cross-section of Addams’ automotive drawings with many never before published cartoons. The exhibition will last until October 31st 2007, but if you can’t make it, there’s always the possibility of trying to find the catalogue, which is loaded with cartoons by Chas Addams’ and pictures of his many antique and classic automobiles.

(With thanks to the Bridgehampton Historical Society and Jeffrey Vogel)

August 25, 2007