My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #984

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #984 from the issue of March 30, 2026, a rabbit artist is working on a large painting while another rabbit is, it seems, criticizing it. The critical bunny speaks. My submission is below. The drawing is by Mike Twohy.

"For this we stopped reproducing?"

These captions weren't masterpieces:

"It doesn't hop."
"You forgot to use a dropcloth."
"It needs a caption."
"Well, I think it sucks."
"Too many colors."
"I don't look like that."
"Eggs again?"
"Chocolate again?"
"Your struggles are boring."

April 12, 2026 Update:  The Finalist

April 19, 2026 Update:  If I had only gotten around to it, I would have voted for the caption from East Providence.

April 26, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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Six Cartoon Publications, Mostly Signed

An ebay listing offered six publications, four of them cartoon-rich editions from The New Yorker, one New Yorker magazine, and one New York University Bulletin. The bulletin, magazine, and bookazines date from 2010 to 2015. In five of them, either Roz Chast, Matthew Diffee, or Jules Feiffer signed next to or on their own artwork in print. It's the kind of collection that would be nearly impossible to assemble today if it weren't already there for the taking. Yet it proved difficult to sell.

Of the six publications, the NYU Bulletin is probably the hardest to find, but there can't be much demand:

Jules Feiffer (1929-2025) signed his Bulletin cover.

Roz Chast signed her cartoon in the October 3, 2011, issue of The New Yorker—not a cartoon-themed issue—and a page from, probably, the magazine's 2011 cartoon calendar.

A Sam Gross rabbit cartoon was on the cover of the New Yorker Cartoons of the Year for 2011.

And Matthew Diffee signed his cartoon on page 4.

The New Yorker Cartoons of the Year 2014 has a dog cartoon by J. C. Duffy on the cover.

Matt Diffee signs on page 11.

The New Yorker 90th Anniversary Book of Cartoons surely deserved to be hardbound, but it was published as a bookazine. The bookazine cover art was adapted from Barry Blitt's 2015 anniversary magazine cover which had nine, not eight, modern-day Eustace Tilleys.

Again, Matthew Diffee was good enough to sign his Che Guevara cartoon on page 118.

The back covers:

Six assorted signed cartoon volumes
eBay listing accessed September 21, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285601622932?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01K5QNXCMX5R18PN804RFGDKB3&hash=item427f2eeb94:g:~wkAAOSwDDNlbUaB&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cLVMMmPv3vOqghoI2UNwugDuGjgYuvD%2BnnE7qdCF3P058g6jJO0MOotbFnHn8o7D1uUwlYsfySyCzhf5XI1%2BD52

hFlcoHSCDnbVMpGm7MRfuLpXOTXoQz4QWm20%2BrS%2BKJzAV5Hq7Y32FFZazFrV9EPd%2BSlYToPBNDeY%2BTX4Z1rZfaSGYRsguH1vR0KcA%2BCpdAbEXaGVHgjmTgo1fsS5YStRqUEXTZY%2BWgDwX1QmJ1tbMz2m7%2FldXfAZ1govD2vL88%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9DK9fWtZg&autorefresh=true

Six assorted signed cartoon volumes
eBay item description

The set had been languishing on eBay since December 2023. Decisive action clearly was needed.

Sold for a best offer of $35.00.

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Karen's Copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor by Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden

Even more impressive than a copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor (1971) personalized with a drawing by illustrator Richard Oldden—such as we saw here in yesterday's post—is a copy personalized with sketches by both Oldden and the book's author Robert Kraus. Oldden's drawing for reader Karen featured Pip Squeak with his sword raised as well as Hopper, the mouse's toad. Kraus, himself a prolific New Yorker cartoonist and magazine cover illustrator, provided the book's new owner with a somewhat generic drawing of a rabbit holding a flower.

This leads one to wonder how Kraus decided whether to illustrate his own stories or assign them to others? His obituary dated August 30, 2001, by Myrna Oliver of the Los Angeles Times, and cited by Wikipedia on its Robert Kraus page, sheds a little light here:

A decade later, the budding author decided to establish a children's book publishing house, dubbing it Windmill and installing himself as president. His idea was to ask artist friends to create the books—but he soon learned they were more interested in illustrating than writing.

So he wrote the stories, albeit painfully, recalling: "I love drawing . . . Giving my stories to somebody else was like giving away a child."

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Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden
Biblio listing accessed October 25, 2024

https://www.biblio.com/book/pip-squeak-mouse-shining-armor-robert/d/1624075172

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #161

There's something magical about the CartoonStock Caption Contest #161. To recap, here's how the contest works: $5 buys you three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of the five runners up. As of this writing, I've invested $35 in this my seventh pay contest and I managed to win $100 on the previous outing. Odds remain good for now while few people enter. My three new entries are shown below at the top of the list; the lower captions were considered by me but ultimately not entered. The drawing of an onstage rabbit abandoned mid-act in a magician's hat is by Avi Steinberg.

"Did all you federal agents really think you could outsmart the greatest magician of our time?"
"But he promised not to go to Aruba without me!"
"Never mind him. It's a snug hat and you don't want to know where the dove is."
* * *
"I need a volunteer from the audience eager to adopt a performing pet."
"His last words were 'Rabbits make such loving pets.'"

December 21, 2022 Update:  The Winner

January 22, 2023 Update:  The contest deliberations have been posted on YouTube.

Contest #161 Deliberations

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Cape Cod 2021: Cape Escape

Cape Escape is a miniature golf course located in Orleans.

Cape Escape, Orleans

Cape Escape, Orleans

Cape Escape, Orleans

Local wildlife:

Rabbit, Chatham

Local dining:

Wild Goose Tavern, Chatham

The First United Methodist Church at night, Chatham

Beach in Chatham

High tide

Low tide

Another Cape escape:

Sharks puzzle

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #137

Will the CartoonStock Caption Contest #137 finally bring me luck? Don't bet on it. My three entries may be seen below. The drawing is by Vaughan Tomlinson.

"Is it lucky to have a sore neck?"
"Do you think it's too much?"
"I just can't make it hop."

September 19, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #749

Has the magic gone out of The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #749 for the date March 29, 2021? My sleight of hand is shown below. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"They want me to saw you in two."

This caption was misdirected:

"People are more bored than I thought."

April 17, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

I voted for the caption from Oak Park.

April 24, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #95

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #95 presents us with the classic big bunny in the city scenario. I've given up on trying to tell which character is doing the speaking. My entries are below, whoever is saying them. The drawing is by Peter Kuper.

"Harvey who?"
"You know the rules: no leash means no carrots."
"Promise me you won't attract any attention."

October 14, 2020 Update:  The Winner

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter Kuper

Rabbits

  

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All the Collected Cartoon Caption Contests

Attempted Bloggery's Hopalong Index

 

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James Thurber: Lawn Scarf

The design of a scarf featuring various charming figures by James Thurber—men, women, dogs...and rabbits—takes drawings apparently created for other purposes and arranges them in a plain geometric pattern. They are unified on a stylized lawn with a simple border of grass and flowers, additional flowers being spread across the field of the scarf. The date and the designer are unclear. The scarf is printed in black on chartreuse but there is another version in black on white, and it very likely exists in other colors as well.

James Thurber
eBay Listing as Archived on Worthpoint
Retrieved February 17, 2019

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/james-thurber-scarf-signed-dogs-fab-75581631

Detail of scarf in the black on white version

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/428475352020290500/?lp=true

January 10, 2020 Update:  Another scarf sold on eBay bears the tag of Richard A. Farrar, confirming the designer.

With a tag of designer Richard A. Farrar

James Thurber Scarf
eBay listing ended October 18, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Signed-JAMES-THURBER-yellow-silk-scarf-w-black-famous-dog-cartoon-print/154132001277?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

James Thurber Scarf
eBay item description

James Thurber Scarf
eBay bid history
Purchased for a best offer of $28.

Best offer of $28 accepted

Note:  I'm eager to hear from anyone with further information about this scarf design containing images by James Thurber. When was it released? What did it originally cost? Worthpoint subscribers: when was it sold on eBay and for how much? Just how many color combinations are there?


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

James Thurber

Dogs

Scarves

Attempted Bloggery's Playful Index

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