Things Over Time

As you can see, there is a steady progression of thingedness in pop culture. Things become more thing-like from 1957 until 1982. It begins with Dr. Seuss's Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Cat, then proceeds to The Thing from Fantastic Four, Thing T. Thing from The Addams Family, and then inevitably to John Carpenter's The Thing.

Thereafter, there is a pronounced stagnation in thingliness, which is tragic. Illustrator Dan Meth is silent about this fact in his chart, but his implication is clear.