In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #985 from the issue of April 6, 2026, a couple stands in their backyard, wine glasses in hand, observing a bear playing a fife. The man speaks. My submission is below. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.
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| "Sooner or later we have to return him to Frontierland." |
April 19, 2026 Update: The Finalists
April 26, 2026 Update: They are all good, but I voted for the caption from Boxborough.
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Two illustrations from the children's book Bakery Business (1983) by cartoonist W. B. Park were sold on eBay last fall.
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| W. B. Park eBay listing ended September 25, 2025 |
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| W. B. Park eBay item description |
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| W. B. Park eBay listing ended October 3, 2025 |
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| W. B. Park eBay item description |
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James Stevenson inscribed a copy of Let's Boogie!, his 1978 cartoon collection from Dodd, Mead, to Lucretia J. Weed, publisher at Congdon & Weed. He included an inscription and a drawing of a bear, presumably the tee-shirted one from the cover. The book is no longer available.
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| Dedication to New Yorker cartoonist Frank Modell |
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| "It's me again." |
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| It's just going to continue and continue |
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| James Stevenson eBay listing accessed July 10, 2025 |
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In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #923 from the issue of November 25, 2024, we have two bears sitting outdoors with two teddy bears. My submission is shown here. The drawing is by Ali Solomon.
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| "Nonsense, Ted—they're named for a president." |
December 9, 2024 Update: I voted for the caption from Sacramento.
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In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 184, Goldilocks tries out a hot tub belonging to the three bears. Let's immerse ourselves.
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 $145 into the first twenty-nine pay-to-play contests and this thirtieth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $150. 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, thank goodness. 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 Sarah Morrissette.
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"By comparison, you aced the porridge." "The temperature's just right, but the jet placement is plain wrong." "Now bring me three Piña Coladas." * * * "Stop standing around and fetch me a fourth tub." "How does 'None of the above' sound?" |
September 30, 2024 Update: The Winner
The Judges Deliberate
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Five years ago, PBA Galleries auctioned off two books by cartoonist Milt Gross with original drawings dedicated to either Elise or to Elise and Jimmy. The one for both of them is an atmospheric sketch of Hiawatta, to use Gross's singular spelling of Hiawatha, asleep in her hammock. The charming rendition is from Hiawatta and De Night in de Front from Chreesmas (1950). The other, for Elise alone, of a pipe-smoking pastry chef appears in a copy of I Shoulda Ate the Eclair (1946). Both books are signed simply Milt, indicating a personal relationship.
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| Milt Gross PBA Galleries listing of April 19, 2018 |
Note: Milt Gross is one of those cartoonists in Michael Maslin's exclusive One Club, indicating that he had one and only one drawing published in the pages of The New Yorker. His style is, all things considered, pretty wild for that publication.
Many more books with original Gross sketches are no doubt out there, and I'd be happy to show a few of them here on the blog if anyone cares to submit some good images.
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