Anatol Kovarsky: Fourth of July Fireworks at Coney Island

Anatol Kovarsky's New Yorker cover for the issue of July 6, 1963, shows a lone fireworks barge off Coney Island illuminating the night sky on the Fourth of July. The original art was sold by the CartoonBank on November 14, 2006 with a letter attesting that its value at the time was $9,000, presumably the selling price. This spring it came to eBay professionally framed alongside the printed magazine cover.

The colors in the waves off Coney Island may have faded over time. It is also possible that the colors were enhanced in The New Yorker's printing process.

The seller's asking price on April 1 was $12,000 or Best Offer. 

Anatol Kovarsky
eBay listing accessed April 1, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/306850543292?

Anatol Kovarsky
eBay item description

The seller was apparently new to the auction site. Within a day, the price was cut in half.

April 2

By April 7, the price was reduced another $200.

April 7

Next came $5,200:

April 9?

The seller next raised the price to $5,500, in order to make a seller offer of $500 off. Thus it sold on April 19 for the seller offer of $5,000.

05288

Bob Mankoff: Against Advice of Counsel

Last year an original drawing by Bob Mankoff, The New Yorker's cartoon editor from 1997 to 2017, was offered for sale on eBay. 

"Your Honor, against advice of council [sic] my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

The courtroom cartoon has heavy penciling under the crude ink drawing, suggesting that it's in its rough state. The caption has a misspelling—council instead of counsel—and the humor is a bit unsubtle.

"Your Honor, against advice of counsel my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

Bob Mankoff's signature

Bob Mankoff
eBay listing accessed October 20, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286881879844?_skw=mankoff+original&itmmeta=01K81GKJ9YNX8QE4SZVPW6RB0R&hash=item42cb7e1724:g:V5wAAeSww11o8YzG&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eBoAt9DoMysmJFjL%2BtbDxN7i9JUBm1s0z%2BH52MHWTVuBwN%2BLmogoAQuUkX9

L4C5AZV5A9Vl6K5RjjpNhmbKoddVhjph9Jz3W8DXaTdYlcSev8t4dOF4%2BObTK1Yu9HtO9KNQFsYU1eaAtPsLNHuXAqJD8amk3RfnKRjURwFdu%2F7dPqtrwFYlDZfwa5r1TdPG%2BZVD6Ra3at%2BsnPor4j0ks3oWyIANGjMi0PPF4TY5Xy26oabKDK1tV4DrSSNKoIAwRQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6SlzrDAZg

Bob Mankoff
eBay item description

Note:  I don't believe this cartoon was ever published, but please let me know if I'm wrong.

05230

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 200

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 200, a family relaxes at home. Each family member is armed, as are the pets and even the houseplant. The father speaks.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed: Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $225 into the first forty-five pay-to-play contests and this forty-sixth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $230. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm playing with the house's money, thank you very much. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for less-gifted caption writers. My three entries this round are shown below, above the break. The cartoonist is family man Liam Francis Walsh.

"I'd say we're ready for our Christmas card photo."
"What do you say we leave the doors unlocked?"
"Now how are we doing on butter?"
* * *
"The boy reads too many comics."
"I love our nuclear family."
"I always say, you can't have too much of a good thing."
"Here we are, the Johnson Family, locked and loaded."
"I love the Second Amendment—and our family."
"I told you I'd give you security."
"Feel safe?"
"What do you say we stand our ground today?"
"The bad guys wouldn't dare."

December 20, 2025:  The Winner

Even though I didn't make it into the top six, two of my captions were mentioned by Lawrence Wood in his Caption Contest Commentary:

Actually, that reference wasn't my intention, but no matter.

As usual, the judges are quite transparent in how they came to their decision:

The Judges Deliberate

Video added December 14, 2025

For the record, my third caption made Bob Mankoff's top ten list, just.

And my second caption made Liam Walsh's top seven, just.

05150

Sean's Copy of The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons

I don't know who Sean may be, but his copy of The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons (1998) was quite special. It was sold on eBay on September 11. The dust jacket art is by Michael Witte.

The unique feature of the book is the front free endpaper, which has drawings by five New Yorker cartoonists: Arnie Levin, Mick Stevens, Peter Steiner, Roz Chast, and Bob Mankoff. The cartoon census is one dog, one snake, one cat, and two human males. Through Stevens's signature, we learn that this assemblage dates to 1999, the year after publication.

Title page

Facing cartoons by Danny Shanahan and James Stevenson

Cartoons by Tom Cheney and Donald Reilly

Cartoons by Jack Ziegler and, again, Stevenson

A cartoon by Bernard Schoenbaum and the roster of cartoonists in the book

Back cover cartoon by Lee Lorenz

The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons
eBay listing ended September 11, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187559204260?_skw=signed+Yorker&epid=512875&itmmeta=01K5QGH0KS6DRRVXFTWR0EVASE&hash=item2bab6655a4:g:Uj8AAeSwlp1owhXH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1e0PK9611tjD3x4MYjI0UTSilszT%2BAjheAETZrqA%2BeDAChD4%2FT8ebUMX9wyG4MjDVdGz%2F9u5aSmrgQHn4x%

2FvWoveYnH88BkXfKkbxK5zPDRcoo4VKcQ%2BsNjvVPe5%2BqY0QjPF80xGjBL7hFLoNVd8LEdMpM5NU1iJR7oR4A54NRjgjcjY9JO0tqgMfWR%2FE%2FyCMzLf939jKTQ2vqx3aus%2FC4VW8DFyWkuiJ69jhLyGcV6hsXw4JpWKDhdRF4H1GAymFkp%2Bp4IpH1G%2BAxlBQXNJMqkCu47j6wTvL9BCj%2FQzlwBzQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4KKxPCtZg

The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons
eBay item description

Note:  I'm just a simple blogger who would like to post other endpaper drawings by other New Yorker cartoonists in other New Yorker books of this ilk. See what you can do.

05073

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 193

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 193, we find two men eating sandwiches at the edge of a sinkhole in which a car has settled. The man standing on the left holding a sub is speaking.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed (and neither has my description of them): Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $190 into the first thirty-eight pay-to-play contests and this thirty-ninth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $195. Having achieved runner-up status with two previous entries, I've collected $200 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, just barely. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below, above the break. The cartoonist is Todd Condron who is new to me and new to the blog.

"I sold the hazard signs and bought lunch."
"This is perfect—except for me forgetting the parking brake."
"Let's never go back to eating over the kitchen sink."
* * *
"Eat slowly and savor the schadenfreude."
"Agreed. After dessert, we look for survivors."
"I can never repel into a sinkhole on a full stomach."

June 7, 2025 Update:  The Winner

The Judges Deliberate

Image added May 30, 2025

From my perspective, there are some highlights. At 4:20, Bob Mankoff gives his supposed opinion of the quality of the entries. At 25:40, Lawrence Wood chooses my first caption and fights for it being added to the top six. Thanks, Lawrence. The caption is the subject of discussion through minute 28. Then at 29:25, Todd Condron, the cartoonist, discusses my third caption in his top ten. My first caption is ranked among the finalists at 44:00. At 50:15 during the big reveal of the winning contributors, Larry is the only one who seems to recognize my name. From the others, crickets.

Wood's Caption Contest Commentary mentions these same two captions:

Image added June 1, 2025

https://www.cartoonstock.com/blog/car-in-sinkhole-caption-contest-commentary-with-lawrence-wood/

04953