Moment magazine'sCartoon Caption Contest for the Spring 2025 issue shows an elderly woman and man sitting on a park bench. The woman prepares to eat a sandwich. The man, oblivious, is feeding a bird. Cupid hovers above the woman, arrow drawn. The woman observes him and speaks. My six entries are shown below; I think the first is the best. The drawing is by that old-time romantic, Benjamin Schwartz.
"Matchmaker, matchmaker, just let me snack." "What do you mean, a match for the ages?" "I left my heart in Coney Island."
"I'll take my sandwich over your shidduch." "Golda Meir always said you'd find me." "You don't want to mess with this bubbie."
In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 192, we find two cats, a psychiatrist and a patient, both sitting in boxes in the office. The patient 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 $185 into the first thirty-sseven pay-to-play contests and this thirty-eighth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $190. 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. 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 Scribbly G—or Grant Meikle—who is new to me and new to the blog.
"No one cares about my indifference." "I've been imagining everyone as a cat." "I should have started with the litter box." * * * "I miss upholstery." "I'm sad, yes, but at least I don't wear a collar." "Hey, I found last week's office notes."
May 3, 2025 Update: On the judging video, eight-time New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest winner Lawrence Wood listed my first caption as his tenth pick, but he didn't press for it and no one else chose it. (View all of minute 21:00). Still, I might be obligated to buy his book now.
The Judges Deliberate
Video added May 3, 2025
May 11, 2025 Update:The Winner
Lawrence Wood goes on to mention my caption in his commentary, but it doesn't stand out:
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #942 appeared in the issue of April 28, 2025. A snail with a snail shell speaks to a snail with a tortoise shell. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Amy Hwang.
"How are things in the Galápagos?"
These captions couldn't keep up:
"I think we should take it slow." "This relationship is moving too fast." "How did you get here so fast?" "I feel like the tortoise to your hare, so to speak." "May I bounce a few ideas off you?"
Yesterday, six rough drawings by cartoonist William Hamilton were sold at auction by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. One of them is framed. All have significant toning or paper loss. They are all property from the estate of Regina McKeever Syrjala of Middleburg, VA, who died in 2019 at the age of 100. It seems likely that each of these was submitted to The New Yorker at some point. I do not know if any of these ideas eventually saw print in some form.
Estimated at $150-$250 for the lot, the bidding started at $70. Two weeks before the auction, no bids had yet been placed.
William Hamilton Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates listing accessed April 12, 2025
William Hamilton Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates item description
William Hamilton Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates listing accessed April 12, 2025
Sold!
Note: It's always possible that some of these roughs by William Hamilton were eventually published in finished form, either in The New Yorker or elsewhere. Readers who recognize these as published pieces are asked to contact me. I would also like to hear from collectors who own original art by Hamilton.
Charles O'Malley: The Irish Dragoon by Charles Lever was published in 1897. The book has sixteen illustrations by Arthur Rackham. James Cummins, Bookseller, has just listed the original of one of these, an equestrian drawing. Its title, taken from the action, is With one spring he rose, and cleared it at a bound. A young woman, a Rackham beauty, kneeling down on the paving stones is clearly overcome with the feat.
With one spring he rose, and cleared it at a bound Arthur Rackham Framed original art Charles O'Malley: The Irish Dragoon by Charles Lever
Arthur Rackham AbeBooks listing accessed April 24, 2025
The first Peanuts Sunday strip was drawn by Charles M. Schulz early in 1952. Six years later, the original art seen here was produced:
Peanuts, February 16, 1958 Charles M. Schulz Original art
The characters in the February 16, 1958 strip are Lucy, Schroeder, and Snoopy. Snoopy and Schroeder play a duet for violin and piano with Snoopy standing on the piano. As they play, the beagle breaks into his happy dance. Schulz produced any number of great strips. This one is a masterpiece.
Peanuts, February 16, 1958 Charles M. Schulz Original art
The original art was sold at Heritage Auctions on August 4. I stopped by about a day before the sale to check on it. The online bidding was spirited, but the one could dream this superb comic strip was almost within reach.
Charles M. Schulz Heritage Auction listing accessed April 2, 2024 one day before the auction
Cartoonist Donald Reilly's drawing from the July 24, 1971, issue of The New Yorker is one I find a little unsettling even today.
"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life." Donald Reilly Original art The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70
Reilly's use of bold lines and wash works well in the background but also on the figures. He rather expertly contrasts the mother and daughter in dress, hairstyle, and attitude. Finally, the mother's awkward attempt to use her daughter's language gives this cartoon its unusual aftertaste.
"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life." Donald Reilly Framed original art The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70
Donald Reilly Swann Galleries listing of June 5, 2018
"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life." Donald Reilly The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70
"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life." Donald Reilly Original art The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70
With a spot drawing of books and a cartoon by Donald Reilly
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #941 appeared in the issue of April 21, 2025. A piano is drinking too much wine at a bar. The bartender speaks to two men in business attire. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Feggo, a.k.a. Felipe Galindo.
"Before I serve him again, I want to hear some scales."
These captions weren't in tune:
"At least he isn't playing." "His orchestra left him." "He doesn't need to stay sober. He's a player piano." "He's hammered."
May 3, 2025 Update: The Finalists
May 9, 2025 Update: I voted for the caption from Danvers.
Ralph Steadman, the ever-inventive illustrator, personalized a copy of No Room to Swing a Cat (1989) to his editor Audrey Adams. He turned her first name into a drawing of what is, very likely, a cat. The signature is dated the 15th of May, in the year, again very likely, 1989, when the hardback edition was first released.
Ralph Steadman AbeBooks listing accessed February 20, 2025
Meier and Sons Rare Books of New Canaan is offering a scarce original souvenir drawing from a copy of Ralph Steadman'sNo Room to Swing a Cat (1989, 1991).
Steadman made the drawing of a cat and signed it in 2006. It covers two pages, which were removed from the book together.
The facing pages have been framed and glazed.
The drawing is made in black ink around a printed color half title.
A certificate of authenticity is included for those who value such things. I don't think the authorship is in question here.
As a collector, I prefer such drawings to remain between the covers, but then I am not the target audience. The price is $2,495 plus shipping. Again, I'm not the target audience.
For reference, here's an undated but intact copy previously sold on eBay. It is archived on WorthPoint here. I do not know for what price the book was sold.
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