The Addams Family
Fictional family created by Charles Addams
The Addams Family is a fictional family and franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams are an eccentric old-money clan who delight in the macabre and the grotesque and are seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. The family’s view in seeing their family life and interests as normal was a basis for the satire and comedy. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988. They have since appeared in other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Addams Family” as fictional family created by Charles Addams. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as fictional family created by Charles Addams. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1938 and 1988.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Addams Family”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Addams Family primary sources, The Addams Family archive and Addams research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Addams Family”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Addams Family” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.