My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #977

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #977 from the issue of February 2, 2026, a couple walking on the beach spots a fish half out of water reading a book. The woman speaks. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"The poor thing can't wait to evolve legs."

These captions were all washed up:

"I was looking for a good beach read."
"Because otherwise the ink would run."
"Why can't WE find the time to read?"
"But what if they ALL read Isaac Walton?"
"Isn't that cute? He's reading Kilgore Trout."
"I could never manage such small type."
"It's probably just some fish story."

February 8, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

February 28, 2026 Update:  I voted for the caption from Charleston, which is a much better version of my own.

March 6, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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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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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #886

Life's a beach for some of us, as we see in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #886 from the issue of February 26, 2024. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Liza Donnelly.

"Get your own damn ketchup."

Here are four variations on a theme, and I rejected all of them in favor of a condiment:

"Why can't my life also be a beach?"
"Why does only your life get to be a beach?"
"How come only you get to live your best life?"
"And what if I want to live my best life?"

March 9, 2024 Update:  The Finalists

March 15, 2024 Update:  I voted for the caption from Palo Alto.

March 24, 2024 Update:  The Winner

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Labor Day 2023 at The New Yorker

At The New Yorker, Labor Day 2023 looks very much like Labor Day 2001. Today's Daily Cartoon published online is by Paul Karasik:

Labor Day
Paul Karasik
Daily Cartoon, September 4, 2023

https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/monday-september-4th-labor-day

This Daily resembes a color "Sketchbook" cartoon by Danny Shanahan published in the magazine back in 2001. It's not clear to me whether fact-checkers review the Daily Cartoons in search of such similarities or whether they even work on Labor Day.

"Sketchbook"
Danny Shanahan
The New Yorker, September 3, 2001, p. 65

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2001-09-03/flipbook/064/

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #811

Life's a beach in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #811 from the issue of July 25, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Farley Katz.

"Isn't it ironic that they're all afraid of sharks?"

August 2, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

August 8, 2022 Update:  I voted for the caption from Washington. Sorry, Paul.

August 15, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #806

Hail my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #806 from the issue of June 13, 2022. My chivalric caption is shown below. The drawing is by Drew Dernavich.

"Your kind can't handle dragons OR sea monsters."

These captions did not serve:

"Marauders! Or possibly the Coast Guard."
"I'm going to take a break while the tide is going out."
"Prove to me that you're not a Viking."
"I'm not the Prince of Tides, you know."

June 22, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

July 3, 2022 Update:  I voted nobly for the caption from Atlanta.

July 9, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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Barbara Shermund: Beach Sighting

It's so helpful to find that original cartoon art by Barbara Shermund has its publication history written out in big letters on both sides of the paper. Thus we learn that this beach cartoon appeared in "The Cheering Section" of Pictorial Review, a syndicated Sunday newspaper color supplement from King Features, dated August 7, 1960. While her cartoons appeared in pairs in Shermund's Sallies, "The Cheering Section" generally published a single large cartoon surrounded by a variety of smaller written and illustrated pieces.

"I just can't see what she sees in him!"
Barbara Shermund
"The Cheering Section"
Pictorial Review, August 7, 1960

Barbara Shermund's signature

Detail

These diagonal views don't add much.

Verso
"Cheering Section
Rel[ease] Aug 7- (60)"

Verso
"Cheering Section
Rel[ease] Aug 7- (60)"

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended March 6, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175183905398?hash=item28c9c64276%3Ag%3ALE8AAOSw1JNiICAT&nma=true&si=64J6TuENCQvl%252FEQuIbsoMEcDQlw%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Barbara Shermund

eBay item description

Barbara Shermund
eBay bid history
One bid in the final five seconds

Note:  I'm fresh out of copies of the August 7, 1960 issue of Pictorial Review and so is the internet, as far as I can tell. I call on readers and collectors of sixty-odd-year-old newspaper inserts to send in scans or photos of "The Cheering Section" page. Also, can anyone find my wetsuit?

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #774

Land ho! It's The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #774 from the issue dated October 4, 2021. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Paul Karasik.

"Guess what? X marked a sandbar."

These captions made me scream, "Aargh!":

"These days, if you give the crew a good flogging, they mutiny."
"Are you a lookout or a mirage?"
"I just lost my retirement plan."
"How are you at deep water recovery?"
"It's all salvageable except my reputation."

October 11, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

October 20, 2021 Update:  I voted for the caption from LA.

October 27, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #139

We have arrived at the close of the CartoonStock Caption Contest #139. These contests will now last for two weeks through at least the end of the year. My three entries may be seen below. The drawing is by Dan Misdea.

"The Amazing Race headed inland six years ago."
"Are you here for the pub crawl?"
"Your clothes are so last year."

October 13, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for Summer 2021

God wearing a Speedo and shades? Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for Summer 2021 takes us away to a divine day at the beach. A diminutive angel appears before God, who is sunbathing with a book. My twenty-four entries are shown below. The relaxed drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"If you know I'm everywhere, why do you come HERE?"
"You know I'm omnipresent, yet you always seek Me here."
"Are you big enough to fetch a nice cold Dr. Brown's?"
"Of course I can recommend a good book."
"What have they done to themselves this time?"
"You know perfectly well what I do on the seventh day."
"Just some light reading until the new Moment comes out."
"It's lonely at the top. Let's keep it that way."
"Lots of folks down here are reading Lucifer."
"You can't just come here every time you forget the wi-fi password."
"The wiser angels call it a chaise longue."
"You're blocking."
"Then why am I paying for your harp lessons?"
"This is why I created New Jersey."
"Ah, you're here to judge the swimsuit competition."
"Then you'll just have to cancel that interview with Moment."
"Go ahead, guess how many grains of sand."
"Shouldn't you be somewhere dancing on the head of a pin?"
"And don't come back without Dylan tickets."
"Your agent misled you. I'm not looking for new Psalms."
"I'd like a bagel of biblical proportions."
"A drachma for your thoughts?"
"You misunderstood. I never said bialys were unholy."
"If there were a multiverse, I'd know a lot more about it than Marvel."

October 15, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

I voted for the caption from Thousand Oaks.

November 21, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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Edna Eicke: Beachfront Sale

Edna Eicke's New Yorker cover of April 2, 1949 marks the rise of a new postwar leisure class, one that can afford a second home by the beach. We see the real estate agent, his woodie parked out front, showing a windswept property to a young couple. The coming storm adds atmosphere without diminishing the appeal of the landscape or of the house.

 

Celebrity gossip columnist Lloyd Shearer, who wrote for Parade magazine under the name Walter Scott, and his wife Marva, also a writer, acquired the original art directly from the artist. Lloyd passed away in 2001 and Marva died in 2019. Over the years, to judge by the published cover, some of the greens and browns have faded but otherwise the artwork remains vibrant and compelling. It was sold yesterday, at Bonhams, at a hammer price of $8,500, or more than the cost of a beach house in 1949.

Edna Eicke
Bonhams sale of May 20, 2021, accessed May 2, 2021

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/edna-eicke-1919-1979-selling-real-estate-by-the-b-38-c-aac4586a04?utm_source=egemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bonhams_abandonment

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1949-04-02/flipbook/CV1/

The hammer price:

The price with buyer's premium:

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