In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #990 from the issue of May 11 & 18, 2026, a couple sitting in a car are stopped at a chicken crossing indicated by a road sign. As they wait for the many chickens to pass, the man, who sits in the driver's seat, speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Mort Gerberg.
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| "Don't you know any other jokes?" |
May 25, 2026 Update: The Finalists
June 7, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Harrison.
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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.
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These captions wouldn't float:
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| "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 15, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Athens.
March 21, 2026 Update: The Winner
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Cartoonist Eldon Dedini must have loved cars. You can see it in his annual posters for the Concours d'Elegance previously recounted in these pages. And you can see it in a less pretentious setting in a New Yorker cartoon original from 1999:
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| "Marie, are you still driving?" Matted original art Eldon Dedini The New Yorker, March 22, 1999, p. 108 |
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| Eldon Dedini eBay listing accessed November 30, 2025 |
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| Eldon Dedini eBay item description |
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| "Marie, are you still driving?" Eldon Dedini The New Yorker, March 22, 1999, p. 108 |
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| "Marie, are you still driving?" Matted original art Eldon Dedini The New Yorker, March 22, 1999, p. 108 |
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| With a cartoon by Eldon Dedini |
Note: Every picture tells a story, as Rod Stewart likes to remind us. If you have a picture that tells a good story, such as a work of original New Yorker art by Eldon Dedini or one of his contemporaries, why not share that picture and that story here?
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In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #961 from the issue of September 29, 2025, a car sits at the curb with a "For Rent" sign hanging from the open hood. A sales squirrel holding a clipboard welcomes another squirrel, a prospective client, to examine the car under the hood. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Lynn Hsu.
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| "If you don't have crypto, I do accept acorns." |
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In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 193, we find two men eating sandwiches at the edge of a sinkhole in which a car has settled. The man standing on the left holding a sub is speaking.
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 $190 into the first thirty-eight pay-to-play contests and this thirty-ninth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $195. 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, just barely. 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 Todd Condron who is new to me and new to the blog.
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| "I sold the hazard signs and bought lunch." "This is perfect—except for me forgetting the parking brake." "Let's never go back to eating over the kitchen sink." * * * "Eat slowly and savor the schadenfreude." "Agreed. After dessert, we look for survivors." "I can never repel into a sinkhole on a full stomach." |
From my perspective, there are some highlights. At 4:20, Bob Mankoff gives his supposed opinion of the quality of the entries. At 25:40, Lawrence Wood chooses my first caption and fights for it being added to the top six. Thanks, Lawrence. The caption is the subject of discussion through minute 28. Then at 29:25, Todd Condron, the cartoonist, discusses my third caption in his top ten. My first caption is ranked among the finalists at 44:00. At 50:15 during the big reveal of the winning contributors, Larry is the only one who seems to recognize my name. From the others, crickets.
Wood's Caption Contest Commentary mentions these same two captions:
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Image added June 1, 2025 |
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In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 190, a police officer has pulled over a yellow convertible with a dog and a cat in the front seat and a smaller dog in the back. The dog with a red bandana is driving. The officer speaks.
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 $175 into the first thirty-five pay-to-play contests and this thirty-sixth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $180. 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. The cartoonist is Julia Suits.
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| "Whose idea was it to drive while watching cat videos?" "I clocked that squirrel at 90." "I know I left those keys in the drawer." |
March 19, 2025 Update: The Winner
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| Tom Funk eBay listing ended August 22, 2015 |
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| Tom Funk eBay item description |
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| Tom Funk eBay bid history A single bid is placed way too early. |
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| Edward Koren eBay listing ended December 31, 2018 |
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| Edward Koren eBay item description |
Dick Buchanan just dropped off an old Christmas cartoon by Gardner Rea. It was printed in two colors, black and green, in the December 23, 1939 issue of Collier's. Consumption was conspicuous, apparently, even during the Great Depression.
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| "Just the same, I'd feel better if I saw somebody." Gardner Rea Collier's, December 23, 1939 |
Note: My thanks to Dick Buchanan for dipping into his amazing Cartoon Clip Files just for us. This is Dick's 63rd contribution to Attempted Bloggery, a new world record I'm sure the Guinness people will soon be noting. Dick also contributes to Mike Lynch Cartoons. His latest effort there is a post related to this one entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: More Wiggly Rea Cartoons 1938-1953." Be sure not to miss it. Wiggly, by the way, referred to the erratic quality of Rea's line.
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I observed several vehicles of note in Cape Cod this summer. For starters, the Skipper Chowder House in South Yarmouth keeps an old Plymouth Suburban wagon, circa 1950, on the premises.
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| "SEAFUN" Massachusetts license plate |
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| "LARK" Massachusetts license plate |
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| "CAPEKOD" Pennsylvania license plate |
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