The Addams Family - Addams Family Characters - Thing

Thing

Another member of the family is "Thing" and, as created by Charles Addams, he was a shy creature mostly seen in the background of Addams's drawings; however, the television series suggested it was a disembodied hand named "Thing", and was Gomez's friend since childhood. He (it is implied in the original television series that the character is male) often performed common, everyday tasks such as retrieving the mail, writing a letter, or just giving a friendly pat on the shoulder, appearing out of ubiquitous boxes or other convenient containers throughout the house. He communicated with the Addamses with a Morse-like alphabet, sign language, writing, and knocking on wood. In the movies and The New Addams Family, Thing was a fully mobile hand, cleanly severed by movie magic just below the wrist (no muscle or bone being visible) and free to scamper about on his fingertips. In the original television series, which included recurring bouts of arm-wrestling with Gomez, Thing never appeared beyond the elbow. He lived in an upstairs closet made up as a house-within-a-house, though he was also shown to reside in a cigar box. In the original television series, Thing was generally played by Ted Cassidy, the actor who also played Lurch. He was usually a right hand, but Cassidy occasionally used his left, "just to see if anyone noticed".

Thing was based on a New Yorker cartoon that depicted a shocked mailman reacting to a sign posted on the Addams mansion which warned "Beware of the Thing". While developing the series, Charles Addams was asked what, exactly, was the "thing"? He opined that for television "thing" could appear as a disembodied head that rolled through the house on various ramps and pulleys. It was decided that a hand would be a bit more palatable. This was to prove a source of some terrible puns. It should also be noted that on March 20, 1954, a cartoon was published in The New Yorker depicting the Addams (page 125 of the book The World of Charles Addams) family at rest in the den with two hands coming out of the record player changing the records. For images of The Thing as drawn by Charles Addams, refer particularly to pages 182–191 of The Addams Family: An Evilution. The producers of the television show, aware of the nearly thirty-five cartoon drawings that included "The Thing," as well as the 1954 incarnation, may well have been inspired to create "Thing" in the series based on the latter.

It is clear from the television show that Thing was not unique. In episode #38, "Morticia Meets Royalty," Princess Millicent von Schlepp arrived and produced an elaborate box from which a distinctly feminine hand (played by Carolyn Jones) emerged. Thing promptly fell in love. The female Thing has an actual name, Lady Fingers; and in another episode #23 we find that Thing, too, has a full name: "Thing T. Thing", the "T" standing for "Thing". At least one other Thing appears on-screen: when Lady Fingers leaves Princess von Schlepp's service, she is replaced by "Esmeralda", a rather hideous old female claw with jewels and nasty black pointy fingernails. In the episode "Thing is Missing", a picture was shown which was supposedly of his parents. The picture only showed male and female hands holding hands. It would appear that "Things" are common among the family's associates.