My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #979

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #979 from the issue of February 16 & 23, 2026, a family goes on an outing in a car that is lifted by balloons. The woman who is in the front passenger seat speaks. The drawing is by Farley Katz.

"Go back down. We forgot party favors."

These captions wouldn't float:

"That settles it. No more party stores."
"All the gas stations have the wrong kind of air."
"So we can't move without wind?"
"Great, but we still have no place to park."
"The kids want to try some of the helium."
"I told you the balloons were for the kids."
"Why should we play The 5th Dimension?"
"Finally, we can't hear the neighbors."

March 6, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

March 15, 2026 Update:  I voted for the caption from Athens.

March 21, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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Maira Kalman: Women Holding Things

The signed first edition of Maira Kalman's Women Holding Things (2021) is now sold out. I do not know the size of the edition, but the booklets sold for $75 including tax plus $5 for shipping. The project raised $100,000 for various charities fighting hunger. If $50, say, were set aside from the sale of each booklet for charity, the edition size would have to be 2000. If only $25 could be set aside, that would make the edition size a conjectured 4000. However the math worked out, Ms. Kalman clearly has a lot of devoted fans willing to bring this charitable effort to fulfillment at this price. The book was offered on Ms. Kalman's website with the following images:

 

Maira Kalman

https://mairakalman.com/shop/p/womenholdingthingssigned

Shipping was delayed for about a month at the printer. My copy arrived only last week:

Maira Kalman's signature

The balloon is glued into the back of the booklet. Should it be kept there to keep the book in its original pristine condition? It can easily be removed and this would allow the back cover of the book to sit better. If it is not removed, the balloon will very likely melt into the inside back cover of the book in the coming years. O the dilemmas of book collectors.

 

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