The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 180

It's time for another round of the CartoonStock Caption Contest. In number 180, two wrestlers meet up in the ring. One of them is a clown. It is the clown who speaks.

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 $125 into the first twenty-five pay-to-play contests and this twenty-sixth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $130. 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, thank goodness. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds are generally favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below, above the break. The cartoonist is Rich Sparks.

"Even in clown college, you couldn't have been a contender."
"Usually I dominate three rings."
"When I took on Ringling they went down for six years."
* * *
"I've got a kid's party right after this."
"I'm a clown—grapple with it."
"Laugh at your own risk."
"Why can't you take this seriously?"
"Only one of us can give 'em the greatest show on earth."

June 25, 2024 Update:  The Winner

The Judges Deliberate

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #898

A man appears to melt into the sidewalk in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #898 from the issue of May 27, 2024. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Johnny DiNapoli.

"In this heat, you can fry a lot more than an egg."

These captions didn't sink in:

"Just don't put this on Instagram."
"Quick, throw me your tie."
"Quick, throw me a straight line."
"'Oh, what a world' doesn't seem adequate."

June 9, 2024 Update:  The Finalists

June 15, 2024 Update:  I voted for the caption from Johns Creek.

June 23, 2023 Update:  The Winner

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Reginald Marsh: Gypsy Rose Lee in "Star and Garter"

If you went to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway between the summer of 1942 and fall of 1943 you would have attended a performance of "Star and Garter." Mike Todd's musical revue starred Bobby Clark, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Georgia Sothern. In 1943, Reginald Marsh painted Lee onstage in one of her lavish numbers. Perhaps he set his paints up in the standing room of the house; he seems to have had a view of the entire stage from the center. And what a stage it was, with gartered legs in high-heeled shoes constituting the legs, as they are actually called, dividing the wings, and stars, appropriately, on the teaser above. It was a big hit, for reasons we can surmise.

Bidders were not receptive to Marsh's work at the May 15 sale of American Art. The unsold piece, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, can now be purchased for just $18,750 but only for the next two days.

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions sale of May 15, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/reginald-marsh-american-1898-1954-gypsy-rose-lee-the-star-and-garter-1943watercolor-and-ink-on/a/8163-67076.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-PABs-MyTrackedLots-101116

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions item description

A copy of the program is available on eBay:

"Star and Garter" program
eBay listing accessed May 26, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402183170882

"Star and Garter" program
eBay item description

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Reginald Marsh: Window Shopping

The subject of Reginald Marsh's ink drawing Window Shopping (1945) is not all that different from his painting Fifth Avenue, No. 1 (1938) which we saw in yesterday's post. The work comes out of the same "collection of a distinguished academic woman" as yesterday's post and it suffered the same unfortunate fate at auction: no sale. It can still be purchased post-auction for $6,250, or an offer can be made. The time remaining for action is only three days and change.

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions listing for the May 15, 2024 American Art Signature Auction

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/reginald-marsh-american-1898-1954-window-shopping-1945ink-on-paper22-1-4-x-14-7-8-inches-565-x-378-cm-/a/8163-67074.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions Item Description

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Reginald Marsh: Fifth Avenue, No. 1

Reginald Marsh's Fifth Avenue, No. 1 is a colorful tempera on masonite painting from 1938. It has two figures, one of whom is only a mannequin in a shop window. Formerly sold at Christie's New York in 2008, it was offered by Heritage Auctions on May 15 where it did not receive any bids. It was given an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000 and is available for the next four days as a post-auction buy for $125,000 including the 25% buyer's premium, although possibly a lower offer might be accepted.

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions listing of May 15, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/reginald-marsh-american-1898-1954-fifth-avenue-no-1-1938-tempera-on-masonite29-3-4-x-24-inches-756-x-610/a/8163-67073.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions item description of May 15, 2024

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions condition report of May 15, 2024

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The Tilley Titleist Golf Ball

I generally do not frequent the fairways, but if Titleist should ever reissue its golf balls featuring The New Yorker's monocled mascot Eustace Tilley, I might have to reconsider. A single such golf ball changed hands last month on eBay. It dates, per the seller, from the late 1970s to the early '80s. While evidently mass-produced, Tilley Titleists now appear to be extremely scarce. Whatever number of them may at one time have been manufactured, it's just possible that the majority of them today are submerged in water hazards.

The New Yorker Titleist
eBay listing accessed April 28, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225234195486?mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m5053.l9429&ch=osgood&euid=9b418e7bf49b4a7a8dde7417ac3a6b17&bu=43186000575&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20240428013623&segname=11021&autorefresh=true

The New Yorker Titleist golf ball
eBay item description

Sold for a best offer of $6.99

Note:  I'd love to hear from readers who might be in possession of additional information about these rare New Yorker golf collectibles.

The present owner of this golf ball received it under mysterious circumstances, which you can read all about here.

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Joseph Mirachi Goes Deep

Original art by Joseph Mirachi for a 1954 New Yorker cartoon requires no caption. It was offered for sale on eBay in 2017 where it received only one bid. It originally came from the estate of Christian Buchheit, who had served for half a century as building superintendent at the Art Students League in New York.

Joseph Mirachi
Original art
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, page 151

Detail

Joseph Mirachi's signature

Joseph Mirachi
eBay listing ended February 19, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Joe-Marachi-Gouache-Illustration-Art-For-1954-New-Yorker-Magazine-/162393889212?hash=item25cf6e19bc%3Ag

%3AQhAAAOSwdGFYoPdc&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Joseph Mirachi
eBay item description

Joseph Mirachi
eBay Bid History
One bid in the final two minutes is sometimes all it takes.

Joseph Mirachi
Original art
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 151

Joseph Mirachi
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 151

With a drawing by Joseph Mirachi
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, pp. 150-151

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1954-11-06#folio=150

Note:  As you may know by now, I like to post original art by New Yorker artists including Joseph Mirachi. Images of such are sought after for future posts here on the blog.

Back in the day, Christian Buchheit received a great sendoff from the Art Students League at which he received works from a number of artists. Another of these pieces, by the irreverent Otto Soglow, may be found in the archives here.

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