The largest private collection of Frankenstein memorabilia on the East coast belongs to Ronald MacCloskey, and in celebration of the Halloween season, a portion of his collection is on display on campus at the Busch Student Center.
MacCloskey began collecting Frankenstein paraphernalia over 40 years ago and 24 pieces of his Boris Karloff Frankenstein memorabilia are on display in the Busch Campus Center Art Gallery until Nov. 4.
These pieces are what MacCloskey fondly refers to as "Franken-art."
In the 1960s, MacCloskey said he grew up "surrounded by monster movies, monster magazines like the Monster Times and toys in the toy store," which influenced his decision to begin collecting.
The 18-year-old author Mary W. Shelley wrote the story about Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation in 1818. Now, "Frankenstein" is commonly accepted as the name of the monster instead, with stitches across his face and a composite body from a variety of scientific experiments.
The pieces displayed in the gallery are an assortment of posters, pictures and cartoons all depicting Frankenstein, both the monster and creator. While some posters are prints of the 1931 Universal film, others are framed work of a modern Frankenstein.
One of the images displays the monster embodied in a slice of pizza on one wall and the main character in a variety of political cartoons on another.
In a reprint called "Holding Hands," Frankenstein spends a tender moment with his bride. The center spread from a Monster Times is framed on another wall, a testament to the public's "enjoyment of monsters in the 60s and 70s," when certain magazines and newspapers catered solely to cater to monster fans.
"Its fun to see these all in one room and how Frankenstein has affected people," MacCloskey said. "The Frankenstein monster has become the icon for Halloween like Santa for Christmas. Now Frankenstein is any creation that has overcome its creator."
MacCloskey's favorite piece is his own tribute to Frankenstein he drew in high school.
"My first love was cartooning and being an artist," MacCloskey said. His piece is the only one of the collection not being auctioned in the beginning of November.
Shelley's Frankenstein is a story people will read and each person will walk away with a different theme, MacCloskey said. To him, the one that stands out is the idea of prejudice.
"The monster was rejected strictly by the way he looked. He wanted friends, but he was rejected and no one got a chance to judge him on how he really was," he said.
MacCloskey said, "It is important to remember that all of this came out of the mind of an 18-year-old girl. A college-age girl that wrote a story that has never gone out of print, and even Hollywood got it right. They created these images that will go on forever."
After Nov. 4 the pieces are available through auction at auctionitnj.com.
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