The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 206

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 206, a man with an apple obscuring his face right out of a René Magritte painting is being wed in church to a woman with a fruit basket on her head à la Carmen Miranda. The cartoonist is Felipe Galindo, but his proper married name is Feggo.

Dearly beloved, this time around the rules of the monthly cash prize contest have changed: Five dollars will still buy up to three entries but now three additional dollars can optionally buy a fourth entry, and so forth ad infinitum. Real cash prizes are fifty percent of the total prize pool (previously $500) for first place and ten percent of the prize pool (previously $100) for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $255 into the first fifty-one pay-to-play contests and this fifty-second challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $260. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank you very much. The contest, though, is no longer subsidized by cash from the vast coffers of CartoonStock, making the contest's odds less favorable, I would think. To be sure, the odds may still be generally considered favorable if enough people feel inclined to pay $3 for additional entries, especially ill-considered ones, or if an entrant is generally superior at this captioning game than the average contestant.

Here's how the prize pool accumulated over time:

The prize pool as of May 11, 2026

The Prize Pool as of May 24, 2026

The Prize Pool as of May 25, 2026 before I purchased my entries

To my surprise, the full $5 entry fee was credited to the prize pool, not a percentage with fees removed. Therefore, I have no idea where the odd pennies in the pool are coming from. I would think the pool would be a sum of $5 and $3 entry fees, with no pennies. 

The Prize Pool as of May 25, 2026 after I purchased my entries

If the prize pool comes to exceed $1,000, the potential take would then be greater than in previous contests.

 

My three entries this round are unveiled below:

"They found true love at a farmers' market."
"May you kiss the bride?"
"And do you promise to avoid food fights?"

June 7, 2026 Update:  The Winner

Magritte's painting Le fils de l'homme (1964) is known as The Son of Man in the English-speaking world.

The Judges Deliberate

Of the judges, only the cartoonist Feggo had the good sense to choose one of my captions for his top ten. He listed it at no. 9. I'll take it. Lawrence Wood still wouldn't deign to mention it in his commentary:

Image added June 9, 2026

https://www.cartoonstock.com/blog/fruity-wedding-caption-contest-commentary-with-lawrence-wood/

As noted by Victor in the comments below, the final prize pool came to $933.22, not too far down from the old $1,000 prize before CartoonStock complicated everything with its cost-cutting. At the beginning of the video, Trevor Hoey confirms that the odd 22 cents came about as a result of foreign exchange rates. 

05272

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #991

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #991 from the issue of May 25, 2026, a castle is under siege. One of the warriors, sword in hand, does a ballet leap above the battle. Up in the turret, one of the castle's defenders speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Hartley Lin.

"That's another way to keep above the fray."

I don't think this one quite works:

"They said to prepare for battle, but he's dyslexic."

June 7, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

June 13, 2016 Update:  I voted for the caption from Boston. 

05271

William Steig: Headstrong Husband

A 1970 New Yorker cartoon original by the great William Steig remained in the collection of Neil and Susan Sheehan for well over five decades, it seems. Then, along with a few other Steig drawings of theirs, it appeared suddenly on the market last weekend and was sold within twenty-four hours. At least we got to see it before it passed back into obscurity.

William Steig
Framed, original art
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

William Steig's signature

The price was $500.

William Steig
AbeBooks listing ended May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/ORIGINAL-1970-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-Signed/32447228712/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=img

Careful readers may have noticed that this week's posts include no fewer than three Steig drawings featuring disembodied heads. Coincidence? Not exactly. Yesterday's post was a variation on this same theme as Steig worked through the idea in his New Yorker submissions. As for Tuesday's post with that knight raising the severed head, well, these things happen.

Oh, yes. Here's how today's drawing looked in The New Yorker:

William Steig
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

William Steig
Framed, original art
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

With drawings by William Steig and Charles Saxon

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1970-01-10/flipbook/020/

* * *

It can be no accident that the simple, direct contours of the emotionally overwrought Steig drawing are contrasted on the page opposite with the lush tones and genteel manner of the cartoon by Charles Saxon, who here is conscripted to play superego to Steig's id, if you will. 

"It seems to me that you've simply got to be for
or against sex these days."
Charles Saxon
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 21

So there you have it: a cartoon depicting surreal, raw anger and one with politicized, unsexy talk of sex, both spanning a single spread in The New Yorker back in January of 1970. 

By the way, I don't recall any other New Yorker artist so casually having his character self-decapitate as Steig has done here. For that matter, who else has resorted to this Saxon trick of placing a face at a dinner party between the candles in a candelabra? For the cartoonists, it's all about the faces.

Ah, there are such riches to be found in these back issues.

05270

William Steig: The Scolding That Doesn't End

From the collection of Neil and Susan Sheehan comes an imaginative and absurd New Yorker drawing by William Steig. Published in 1969, the drawing was listed online this past weekend by Second Story Books and was promptly sold.

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

William Steig's signature

The work was offered on AbeBooks for $500. 

William Steig
AbeBooks listing ended May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/ORIGINAL-1969-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-Signed/32447222280/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=readmore_low

William Steig
AbeBooks item description

The original art has sustained considerable toning, but the image appears forever young on the pages of the magazine. Not the same can be said for Steig's couple.

William Steig
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

With a spot drawing by Mario Micossi and a cartoon by William Steig

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1969-11-08/flipbook/166/

* * * 

"The Art World" spot drawing
Mario Micossi

Note:  For those who remember William Steig chiefly as the creator of Shrek!, that children's book wasn't published until 1990, twenty-one years after this drawing.

05269

William Steig: Mystery in the Making

Neil and Susan Sheehan owned several wonderful New Yorker cartoon originals by William Steig. This one, from 1964, sold quickly, as did the others.

                        "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
Framed original art
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

William Steig's signature

William Steig
eBay listing ended May 16, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/318307590972?_skw=William+Steig&itmmeta=01KRRZPWHC9ZSYA95FTBHZJ6RT&hash=item4a1c9c633c:g:AAQAAeSwEv9qByrr&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xBPeiliTW06%2BiyNO8If%2FE3WxqmX%2BUuRSzLM7CoFc8Q0Rs79VgvoXajedz%2B0z1XhLD7n9QxV%2F6

zpnDscA%2FfYs9Dg3qNzQdFV7AlBb7YjRiWeSRfX2tMzD9l9wiimOiyxGaWfEOIZL%2BG8gEDIOoIt%2FVN2Xr%2BORAYGGA9kcyXDD9o%2BeAJ23mjBbQ%2B79SSgCwMS8%2FSsDDB4YdeqKovenr3RUz8OjsqotrAG6fvSK%2BHi4xChf777JpdT74%2F%2B27y9sJYKbrM%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-7I25_GZw

William Steig
eBay item description

Here it is in the magazine, which Susan Sheehan worked for, by the way:

                        "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

                       "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
Framed original art
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

With Cartoons by William Steig and James Stevenson

* * *

James Stevenson's cartoon, printed on the page opposite, has a sleek corporate look which sets off the gloomy, atmospheric Steig.

                      "I went through chintz, stripes, flowers, and God    

knows what all till I finally found something I really liked."    

James Stevenson
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 55

05268

William Steig: Report of a Beheading / Temptation on the Path

A two-sided drawing by William Steig changed hands last month on eBay. 

The first drawing shows a knight, sword still in hand, presenting a severed head to his lady, who seems rather impassive. The lady is drawn with elegance; the knight is rough-hewn. Did that head belong to someone she knows? Was he a lover? The garden setting provides a contrast with the gruesome subject matter.

This drawing, which bears Steig's signature, is on the side with more toning, the seller notes, indicating that it was framed and displayed. 

On the other, unsigned side, Steig presents us with a devil concealed behind trees. He pokes his head out and gets the attention of a well-dressed young woman walking away from him on the path to town. She pauses and turns her bonneted head towards him. Will this lead to her downfall?

William Steig
eBay listing ended April 11, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188265051812?_skw=William+Steig+original&itmmeta=01KRSRNF864DV5EWCTBPDD1TPY&hash=item2bd578b6a4:g:V64AAeSwQldp2Zlb&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCuoCY2L02nXNhfLB%2BxMYz14UA2CUFDB%2B4eM4HaFHKLcmPKntwydgBSev6ffatPP8h

U%2BY1WMWwV%2B8EaaUfuatpMmxWQHQHgJWUuWt06WRGXBKs56O5U%2BSfC298GV0g%2BLNxF66WcISDc%2BPOg2hYOEVgzSNMkjLpMwXLiOeKqGZ5MF3SpB86wez5iKzDquUWSBb8%2Fc8uO00YJaquCahlPDsA7ssMRj3s4Ojdx%2F7o8teQ0t46pVqjxi2UUKar%2BdqKFiSk%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5701bjGZw

William Steig
eBay item description

Note:  Whether or not these drawings ever saw publication, William Steig certainly packed a lot into them. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who recalls seeing either drawing, or perhaps a close variation, in print. 

05267