Charles Addams: A Legacy of Unicorns

Yesterday's installment of Bliss, Harry Bliss's syndicated single-panel cartoon, is set in a hotel room where two unicorns have just finished having sex. The female is pulling on a stocking while the male is smoking a cigarette. Two horseshoes may be seen on the floor.

"You'd better hurry—we'll miss the ark."
Harry Bliss
Bliss, December 27, 2025

The scene is contemporary and, of course, nicely rendered. Many Bliss readers may be unaware that the idea behind this gag comes from a classic drawing by Charles Addams, one of his very best:

Charles Addams
The New Yorker, March 10, 1956, p. 44

https://charlesaddams.com/print-galleryshop/unicorns

Addams, though, is not going for the belly laugh. His cartoon is not meant to be funny so much as poignant. It is full of atmosphere and emotion. Read left to right, foreground to background, it tells a moving story. The original art is in the collection of the New York Public Library.

Those branches Addams shows sticking out of the water may be echoed in Bliss's motel room painting. It's hard to say for certain. What do you think?

Unicorns and the ark are not a new idea. Curiously, there are some 15th and 17th century depictions of unicorns actually on board the ark. This begs the question of how and when they might have died off. Addams may well have been the first to depict the unicorns becoming extinct because they missed the ark.

https://www.faidutti.com/unicorn/theselicorne2.pdf

Like Bliss, Hallmark couldn't resist going for the big laugh. A unicorns-missing-the-ark card was marketed by their Shoebox division because exclamations like "Oh, crap!" just don't feel at home in the Hallmark imprint. I spotted it in the card rack at a local pharmacy in early 2020. I believe this card has since been discontinued.

https://www.amazon.sg/Hallmark-Shoebox-Funny-Birthday-Card/dp/B07TPYCMVF

https://www.amazon.sg/Hallmark-Shoebox-Funny-Birthday-Card/dp/B07TPYCMVF

Another contemporary New Yorker cartoonist, Ellis Rosen, has put his own spin on the idea—twice.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1333542411474003&set=pcb.1333542478140663

And, in acknowledgement of the pickleball trend . . . 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163402974629851&set=gm.1314486600006935

Inevitably, there are many more examples out there, too many. I won't try to catalogue them all as there is that law of diminishing returns. As far as I can tell, The New Yorker is where it all started. Regardless of that, I don't think Addams's version will ever be equalled.

With a drawing by Charles Addams and a Profiles illustration by Abe Birnbaum

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1956-03-10/flipbook/044/

Note:  It is, of course, possible that there is some depiction of a pair of unicorns missing Noah's ark that predates the Addams drawing. If such a thing exists and anyone knows of it, please get in touch.

This is not the first time Harry Bliss has mined the work of Charles Addams. I have enumerated other examples here. 

* * *

Before we go, let me just note that Abe Birnbaum illustrates the Profiles page and he includes a piece of technology that was then state-of the art but is now obsolete:

Emory Cook
Abe Birnbaum
The New Yorker, March 10, 1956, p. 45

Modern publishing techniques do not often require column fillers, which may also be considered obsolete, but I do really miss the Newsbreaks—though not quite as much as the Addams cartoons.

Quality prints of this wonderful Addams cartoon are available from the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation, which holds the copyrigtht. Just follow the aqua link.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #954

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #954 from the issue of August 4, 2025, the Creature From the Black Lagoon sits in a lifeguard's chair on the beach holding a megaphone up to his mouth. The Gill-man speaks. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Harry Bliss.

"Don't make me come and get you."

This caption isn't quite ready for its close-up.

"At last they're letting me direct."

August 16, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

August 18, 2025 Update:  I did like the caption from San Francisco, which was an improvement upon the caption I did not submit, but I voted for the caption from Hurding, which I thought was funnier.

August 25, 2025 Update:  The Winner

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Mrs. Robinson: Joe Dator and Harry Bliss

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?"

—"The Graduate" (1967)

The line is one of the most famous from "The Graduate," Mike Nichols's celebrated 1967 film starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. The film poster is iconic, showing a staged still photo of the hotel room scene with Mrs. Robinson donning her stockings after she has seduced Benjamin. This is not actually the scene with the famous above quotation, but it's an image everyone remembers, and Mrs. Robinson's stockinged leg stands out in both scenes.

https://beloitfilmfest.org/biff-event/guess-whos-coming-to-din
ner-fnb-classic-film-2017/the-graduate_movie_poster/

Joe Dator gives us his take on the famous scene in a 2014 New Yorker cartoon with a contemporary twist:

Joe Dator
The New Yorker, May 26, 2014, p. 68

Note that Dator gives Benjamin a suit similar to what he wore in the earlier seduction scene, but not in the hotel room scene. On pages 54 to 55 of Inked: Cartoons, Confessions, Rejected Ideas and Secret Sketches from The New Yorker's Joe Dator (2021), he discusses how he had to carefully rework his caption to make it conform not to the actual line from the film but to the way most people seem to remember it.

In February of this year, Harry Bliss co-opted that same scene himself in his syndicated panel cartoon Bliss. He too moves the famous seduction line into the hotel room scene, but his speaker is a dog.

Harry Bliss
Bliss, February 17, 2023

https://store.harrybliss.com/product/mrs-robinson-youre-trying/

The line in question is spoken by Benjamin after Mrs. Robinson invites him into her home and offers him a drink:

It occurs here just after 3:40.

A cartoon by Joe Dator

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2014-05-26/flipbook/068/

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

04277

Sight Unseen: Number One is Walking by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

My purchase of a doubly-signed copy of Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions was not informed by an image of the signatures of author Steve Martin and artist Harry Bliss, so it qualifies here as a Sight Unseen post. Nevertheless, those signed copies I had seen generally looked the same, so there wasn't a lot of suspense. The comedian and the cartoonist have been collaborating for a few years now on single panel cartoons which get submitted to The New Yorker. The rejected ones get published in the newspaper panel strip Bliss. The book includes a generous selection of their cartoons. 

Steve Martin and Harry Bliss
AbeBooks listing accessed December 12, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31367699448&searchurl=ds%3D20%26kn%3Dnumber%2Bone%2Bis%2Bwalking%2Bsteve%2Bmartin%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D20&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title2

This copy has what I believe to be a specially printed signature page signed by both Martin and Bliss prior to its being bound into the book. The number of such signed pages is not known to me, but I suspect it is significant.

04112

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #828

I took a few extra strokes in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #828 from the issue of November 21, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Harry Bliss.

"I'm stuck with a bogey."

These captions were under par:

"Why must it always happen on the eighteenth hole?"
"If I sink the putt, will I get vaporized?"
"I'm distinctly hearing a putt-putt."
"This is not as bad as the windmill."
"Would you mind rolling this into the lake."
"First, how about a round of frisbee?"
"Since we don't have a leader, let's take it to the clubhouse."
"Is this one of your damn drones?"
"If they're so smart, why don't they land in a sandtrap?"
"It's time to update the rulebook."

November 28, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

December 10, 2022 Update:  I voted for the caption from Glen Rock.

December 12, 2022 Update:  The Winner

04145

The Perfect Piece of Toast: H. T. Webster and Harry Bliss

Yesterday's syndicated Bliss panel calls to mind H. T. Webster's 1948 classic from his series The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:

The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:
Newlyweds['] First Breakfast
H. T. Webster
November 27, 1948
The Best of H. T. Webster, 1953

http://hairygreeneyeball2.blogspot.com/2009/10/thrill-that-comes-once-in-lifetime.html

Harry Bliss visits the same territory. He substitutes a dog for the woman at the table. This is something we saw him do in a 2017 panel inspired by a James Thurber New Yorker cartoon, so it certainly looks like a pattern.

Harry Bliss
Bliss
July 13, 2022

https://store.harrybliss.com/product/incredible-once-again/

Stop me if you've heard this one already. In 2008, Harry Bliss famously borrowed from comic book legend Jack Kirby for a New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest without crediting him. You can read about that controversy here. I have previously documented examples where his cartoon panels seemingly come very close to well-known work by Charles Addams, William Steig, and James Thurber. Coincidence? Tributes? Appropriation? Something else? You decide. Those posts can all be reviewed here. 

Note:  Does that cartoon by H. T. Webster look familiar? It's a favorite of mine and I have discussed it on this blog before. Revisit my musings here.

04015

My Copy of Death by Laughter by Harry Bliss

Harry Bliss's cartoon collection Death by Laughter appeared in 2008. Many but by no means all of the cartoons are on the subject of death. This collection does not include any of his New Yorker work. There is an entertaining introduction by Christopher Guest which humorously  recounts his own early, unsuccessful attempts at cartooning. Fortunately, he found his way to film work. Guest then recounts how he and his wife went on to collect original cartoon art by a number of well-known cartoonists including Bliss.

A signed and authenticated copy of the book was purchased by me on eBay in June of 2017 for $9.98 plus $3 shipping. The cover illustrates the basic concept of Death by Laughter.

With the signature of Harry Bliss

Spoiler alert:  I admire the way Bliss chose to end the collection.

The back cover has a funny cartoon blurb.

The back cover

For once I did not archive the eBay auction. This is all I have:

The signature was certified by Beckett Authentication Services. I don't advocate making purchase decisions solely on the basis of certificates of authenticity, but in a case like this where a certificate corroborates what is already pretty clear, it can be a positive factor in the decision. 

Certificate of Authenticity

The authenticator placed a sticker in the book on the page directly behind the signature. Note the dedication and the acknowledgment of  the Grim Reaper.

An online record of the certification still can be looked up almost five years after the fact.

Certification verified January 8, 2021

https://www.beckett-authentication.com/verify-certificate

03850

Little Lit: The Series, Signed

Art Spiegelman, author of Maus, and Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker's art editor, are the husband-and-wife editors of Little Lit, three volumes published in the early 2000s which bring together a number of authors and illustrators to create sophisticated comics stories for children. Stephen Kroninger writes with snapshots of all three books, signed and personalized back in the day for his twin daughters by many of the writers and artists involved in the project.

Little Lit:  Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies (2000)

Inscribed to Hannah and Rachel in December 2001 by Kaz, Harry Bliss, Barbara McClintock, Daniel Clowes (signed in 2002), Art Spiegelman, and Françoise Mouly

Little Lit:  Strange Stories for Strange Kids (2001)

Inscribed to Hannah and Rachel in December 2001 by Ian Falconer, Paul Auster, Barbara McClintock, Kaz, Jules Feiffer, Art Spiegelman, and Françoise Mouly

Little Lit:  It Was a Dark and Silly Night (2003)

Inscribed to Hannah and Rachel in July 2003 by Art Spiegelman

Note:  Illustrator and collagist Stephen Kroninger has now racked up thirty-seven contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Nice job, Stephen.

These three books were collected as Big Fat Little Lit in 2006. The Little Lit website still refers to these as the first three books, leaving open the somewhat remote possibility of future volumes for a new generation. Readers should be on the lookout for other specially-inscribed copies of any of the Little Lit books to show off here.

03625

A Wealth of Pigeons Signed by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin

A Wealth of Pigeons by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin is a cartoon collection published on November 17 that grew out of the collaboration between the cartoonist and the comedian in the pages of The New Yorker and on the panel strip Bliss. It retails for $28, but signed copies command a premium, especially given the desirability of a celebrity signature and the difficulty of conducting book signings during the current pandemic. A copy offered on AbeBooks for $72 on December 4 is signed by both authors on a bound-in page and has already been sold.

The signatures of Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

Harry Bliss and Steve Martin

https://www.abebooks.com/Wealth-Pigeons-Harry-Bliss-Steve-Martin/30793296130/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=readmore_low

Harry Bliss and Steve Martin
AbeBooks listing posted December 4, 2020

03493