Mark Kausler’s CatBlog

Here’s the original caption: “It is no ordinary Halloween party that is making the spooky house on the hill jump with gloomy glee. It is the grimly hilarious gathering of some of the most ghastly—but also most likeable—ghouls that ever crawled out of a graveyard at midnight. And fittingly, their transportation also came from the most decrepit automobile graveyard in all Christendom. Hollowed out pumpkins with triangular eyes and gruesomely grinning mouths dot the sinister landscape like Chinese lanterns at a Victorian garden party. The merry mood of prankish malevolence is inherent in the gnarled and twisted and jagged trees and in the bats and cats and owls that abound and in the two vultures sitting in the foreground like venomous vagrants waiting for a carcass to turn up. And over the whole scene the full moon casts a sickly glow while a baneful spider spins a great sparkling web of stardust from earth to sky. And the only normal thing that looks on this unhallowed revelry is a little ground squirrel peeking aghast from its snug burrow. The cover is the work of Victor A. Vaccerazza (Vic Vac), Globe-Democrat chief artist.” Actually the ground squirrel looks a lot like Chip from the Chip and Dale Disney cartoons. This cover painting has TEN cats in it, nine black ones and one tuxedo. The Auto Graveyard concept is complicated and fun to look at. The cobweb is printed in a special ink which sparkles on the original Sunday magazine cover. This cover is the last one I have from the Vic Vac Halloween series. I don’t know when Vic Vac stopped doing these special covers, he retired from the Globe-Democrat and passed away in 1990. I hope y’all have enjoyed this special series. I’ve heard NO comments at all about them. Happy Halloween!

Original Caption: “Halloween is many things to many people. To the kids in masks and grotesque costumes it is a night of adventure, a night to gather sacks of candy, fruits and other loot. But to those who are the victims of traditional annoyances and harmful pranks, the night can be a headache. It is this aspect of Halloween that Globe-Democrat chief artist Victor Vaccarezza, who signs his incomparable cartoons Vic Vac, has trenchantly depicted in his cover painting–a witch smashing the serenity of Halloween with a pumpkin headache ball.” If you look closely at the pumpkin’s eyes, you’ll see some faint sparks. An owl flies out in front of the Jack-O-Lantern, and three little tuxedo cats lead the headache parade. Keep watching the Catblog for another Vic Vac creation before Halloween! Mark

Here’s the original caption for this episode of the Vic Vac Halloween Sunday magazine covers (October 30, 1966): “Haunted houses are frightening enough at any time but especially so on Halloween, the spookiest night of the year when every conceivable kind of ghost and goblin is on the prowl. That is the theme of today’s cover by Vic Vac (Victor Vaccarezza), the Globe-Democrat’s chief artist.” I like the four black cats in the painting, and the face on the tree is a haunting touch. There’s a couple of owls around, and the kids with their hands over the cop’s mouth seem to be suppressing his scream! I hope you are enjoying this series, there are almost no examples of Vic Vac’s paintings on the Internet other than the Catblog. Boo!

Hi Folks, Here’s the original caption for this Vic Vac painting: “Vic Vac, the Globe-Democrat’s chief artist, used an etching of St. Louis in 1817 as the basis for his delightful cartoon on today’s cover. The origin of the etching, believed to be the first ever made of the city, is not known, but it appeared originally on the $10 bill of Bank of St. Louis. The Halloween characters that enliven the scene are an added touch, a product of the fertile Vic Vac imagination.” Note that the Gateway arch was finished Oct. 28th, 1965, just three days before this cover was printed. The arch was not opened to the public for many months after this. There’s a little black cat on a rooftop close to the bottom right of the composition. I love all the little ghosts on the flatboats and houseboats on the Mississippi. I hope you enjoy this historic cover today, Mark

Howdy Folks, here is Vic Vac’s Halloween cover for 10-27-1963, titled “Trick or Treat”. Here’s the original caption:” Halloween is just around the corner, so get ready for the Trick-or-Treaters. They will be out in full force Thursday night and performing the way they are on today’s cover by Globe-Democrat chief artist Vic Vac (Victor Vaccarezza).” In the late 1950s, my brother Kurt and I went from house to house on Halloween night, and didn’t just get handed a bunch of candy bars or taffy apples, we had to PERFORM to EARN our treats. We memorized poems, such as “Alexander” by A. A. Milne, and dressed in outfits hand sewn by our dear Mother. The little yellow clown in Vic Vac’s painting seems to have been elected to recite for the couple on the couch. I like the dog’s tail in back of the couch, too. The shadows on the wall are quite striking, and I like the delicious looking goodies on the table in the foreground.