Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Farewell to Helen & George

In the spring of 1955, a couple, Helen and George, relocated from Connecticut to Vermont. Their friends, Middy and Whitney Darrow, Jr., sent them off with a personalized farewell card. Whitney Darrow, of course, was a celebrated New Yorker cartoonist; if you don't know, someone has helpfully written it on the back. Darrow's pencil drawing depicts a circus act in which a young girl is lighting the fuse to launch a human cannonball (George?) while a woman (Helen?) in a two-piece costume anticipates the blast and holds her ears.

The artwork is available from Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.:

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
AbeBooks listing accessed June14, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Going-Away-Card-Original-Drawing-Whitney/32224287366/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #781

I took a shot at The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #781 from the issue of November 22, 2021. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Jason Adam Katzenstein. 

"Can you believe it? I'm also lit."

December 5, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

December 11, 2021 Update: I really can't remember if I voted this time around, but if I did it was for the caption from Brooklyn. But I probably didn't.

December 18, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #395

Here is my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #395 for September 16, 2013. The cartoon is by Christpher Weyant but the caption is all mine.

"Did you ever wonder, Bradley, why your job wasn't outsourced?"

I was unable to do the underlining when I submitted my entry. Hmmm.... So it goes. Here are some other unused caption ideas:

"Now your promotion is practically guaranteed."

"It won't serve as a deterrent without real gunpowder."

"You said you wanted to travel."

"By the way, Thompson, you're fired."
"What we save on airfare goes directly into your

health insurance premiums."

September 23, 2013 Update:  The Finalists

October 7, 2013 Update:  Winning Caption

October 8, 2013 Update:  Cartoonist Christopher Weyant reveals the caption he originally conceived for this drawing.

"This is the part of the job I hate."

Note:  What do you say if you're half man, half escargot? Don't forget to take a look at my previous entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest here.

I'm currently a finalist in Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest! No, really. Read all about it here.

This blog features an earlier caption contest with Christopher Weyant here. Also, he signed my copy of The Best of the Rejection Collection here, although today I really have no independent recollection of this. I think I was sleepwalking. I'm sure he doesn't remember me either.

Mr. Weyant's website is here.

Christopher Weyant's New Yorker work can be enjoyed in The Cartoon Bank here.

Don't miss Bob Mankoff's essential blog post "A Cartoonist Responds to Boston" here.

There's more!  Christopher Weyant is mentioned on Ink Spill in these posts.

Did I leave anything out?

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