Our Own Oddities

When it began September 1, 1940, it was titled St. Louis Oddities. The title changed in the late 1940s. He died of a heart attack on August 3, 1997. == Content ==

The curiosities, including actual fruits and vegetables, were submitted to Graczak, 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. 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. ==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." The newspaper printed several angry letters. Graczak and the newspaper's features editor expressed regret. ==References==