William Steig: Marriage in the Balance

Another original New Yorker cartoon by William Steig, this one from 1969, was sold by Second Story Books on May 17. It had been collected by Neil and Susan Sheehan, she a writer for the magazine. One imagines they both appreciated the singular perspective on marriage the artist expressed in this drawing. 

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 22, 1969, p. 57

William Steig's signature

The price was $500. It was quickly sold.

William Steig
AbeBooks listing ended May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/ORIGINAL-1969-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-Signed/32447225940/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook#&gid=undefined&pid=1

The drawing looked great in print.

William Steig
The New Yorker, November 22, 1969, p. 57

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 22, 1969, p. 57

With cartoons by Edward Koren and William Steig

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1969-11-22/flipbook/056/

* * *

The Motion Picture Association of America introduced its voluntary film rating system in November of 1968. The four original ratings were G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences), R (restricted, persons under age 16 not admitted without a parent or guardian), and X (those under 16 not admitted). Edward Koren's cartoon, on the page opposite the Steig, provides the artist's take on the new ratings one year in.

"It looks like an ⓧ rating to me."

Edward Koren

The New Yorker, November 22, 1969, p. 56

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 166

"Yeah, I would be willing to bet 75%  of the people who play CartoonStock have been finalists in The New Yorker. It's people who are good at it."

—Vin Coca

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption

Contest Podcast, Episode 104 56:12

As someone who has never been a finalist in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, I'm happy to be in the 25% playing along with the heavy hitters. In CartoonStock Caption Contest #166, big cats reside in the neighborhood. Let's go over how this twelfth installment of the monthly cash prize contest works: Five bucks buys up to three and only 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 $55 into the first eleven pay-to-play contests and this one brings my outlay up to $60. I somehow managed to win $200 along the way but as some very talented caption writers play—true notwithstanding Vin Coca's dubious statistic above—I don't expect to be able to keep it up. My three new entries are shown below, above the break. Below the break are my also-rans. The full-color drawing of a real estate broker showing a giant cat tree is by Lynn Hsu.

"Here's a nice cozy space for slinking around."
"You'll be expected to keep the street pest-free."
"Here you can stay comfy but remain aloof."
* * *
"The entire neighborhood is cat-friendly."
"Your family can keep fit without a gym."
"It costs next to nothing to maintain."
"Isn't it purrfect?"

May 12, 2023 Update:  The Winner

The judges deliberate:

Video embedded July  4, 2023

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 165

The alien invasion is underway in the CartoonStock Caption Contest #165. Let's go over how this monthly cash prize contest works: Five bucks buys up to three entries and that's it. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've spent—pardon me, invested—$50 over the first ten contests and this one makes it $55. I somehow managed to win $200 along the way but as more talented caption writers enter, I don't expect to keep doing this well. My three new entries are shown below, above the break. The full-color drawing of a small-scale invasion is by Juan Astasio.

"We may need to rethink the full-scale attack."
"No, I said they were small-MINDED."
"Everything looks so much bigger with these visors."
* * *
"We need to rethink tonight's menu."
"What do you say we abduct a shoe?"
"Save the death rays for our scouting party."
"Think about how we can scale this up."

July 4, 2023 Update:  The Winners

The judges deliberate:

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #149

I hope I didn't slip up on my entries in the CartoonStock Caption Contest #149. My three captions are shown below. The drawing is by Shannon Wheeler.

"Either it's gigantic or I don't understand perspective."
"It's not big for a canoe."
"That's not how I remember the Monolith."

March 14, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #123

After last week's redo, it's time for the lowdown on CartoonStock Caption Contest #123. My three entries are shown below. The drawing is by Mick Stevens.

"These aren't reduced enough."
"I won't be needing the dressing room."
"Do you take Bitcoin?"

May 10, 2021 Update:  The Winner

03610

Charles Addams: Shrunken Missionary

In 2011, Pook & Pook sold a Charles Addams missionary cartoon, correctly identifying it as a New Yorker original, but not providing bidders with the caption. No matter. Despite its culturally insensitive tribal setting, the work, estimated at $2,000 to $3,000, sold for a healthy $8,295.

http://www.pookandpook.com/cat/2011-10-01/99

Here it is again, this time complete with caption and first publication date.

"Parker! You're letting him get the upper hand!"
Charles Addams
The New Yorker, November 22, 1947, page 42

Cartoon by Charles Addams and spot drawing by Tom Funk

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1947-11-22/flipbook/042/

Note:  Images of original Charles Addams art are sought after here at Attempted Bloggery. Please send mysterious and spooky scans or photos.

Tom Funk

03607

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #644

Here is my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #644 for the double issue of December 24 and 31, 2018. The drawing is by Bob Eckstein.

"Now why would you need solar?"

These captions were subpar:

"Of course, greens fees are included."
"As a retirement community we still try to be kid-friendly."
"It's a great view, but I wouldn't stick my head out the window."
"Now just because you're retiring, you don't need to downsize everything."
"Look, I'm going to stick my neck out for you—figuratively."
"Why should you have to downsize?"

January 7, 2019 Update:  The Finalists

January 14, 2019 Update:  I voted for the third caption even though the first one was the closest to my own. Magnanimous of me, right?

January 21, 2019 Update:  The Winner

Note:  Last week cartoonist Mort Gerberg
showed us a rather punchy pianist. My caption didn't score a knockout, but perhaps I could have been a contender. See Contest #643.

This is Bob Eckstein's first appearance on this blog. What should his handicap be?


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Did an Alcon Commercial Borrow from a New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest?

Last year, cartoonist Christopher Weyant created this cartoon for The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest:

Christopher Weyant
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #589 for October 23, 2017

https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2017/10/my-entry-in-new-yorker-cartoon-caption_23.html

This year, the following TV commercial appeared for Dailies Total1 contact lenses by Alcon. The video was uploaded to YouTube on May 15, a likely approximation of when it first aired. Could the Caption Contest cartoon and the commercial be somehow related, or is this just one of those inevitable coincidences? You decide!

"Lose Your Readers"

Alcon Dailies Total1 Ad

Uploaded May 15, 2018
Embed playback disabled. Watch it here.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dkm_/novartis-dailies-total1-menus?fb_comment_id=1781176138609281_1835618133165081#f1b1c5d397823d

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dkm_/novartis-dailies-total1-menus?fb_comment_id=1781176138609281_1835618133165081#f1b1c5d397823d

Of course, no one has a monopoly on sight gags featuring oversized menus, but the creative people who make TV commercials certainly could be readers of the New Yorker.

The one thing we do know for certain is who won the contest. And the winning caption is... 

Note:  We've been down a similar road before. Two years ago I inquired whether a GEICO commercial might have borrowed from a New Yorker cartoon by Rich Sparks? Again, you decide.

Have you observed other ways in which New Yorker cartoons possibly have influenced pop culture? Do tell!


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02679

E. Simms Campbell in Esquire, October 1953

Men of all sizes, shapes, ages, and incomes are rendered helpless before the beautiful women of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell. Two full-page cartoons from the October 1953 issue of Esquire show the cartoonist in top form as an illustrator, but the captions deliver less punch than one might hope for. The first, in black and white, depicts a secretary in the lap of her boss, who is old enough to be her father—or is it grandfather? She may be young, but she knows what she wants. The second cartoon, in color, is an example of the "Harem Girls," at this point a twenty-year feature in the magazine, although the women haven't aged a day. They languish silent in their passivity and are unfazed by the goings on.

E. Simms Campbell
"But I don't want security—I want to get married!"
Esquire, October 1953, page 97

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-Classic-Esquire-Magazine-Cartoon-by-E-Simms-Campbell-NICE-ART...

E. Simms Campbell
"And whose little boy are you?"
Esquire, October 1953, page 115

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-Classic-Esquire-Magazine-Cartoon-Set-Gilbert-Bundy-Simms-Campbell...

Note:  Attempted Bloggery has been looking at the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Readers are asked to provide high-resolution scans or photos of original Campbell art or perhaps of forgotten published works such as these.

Is there more Campbell art in this issue of Esquire? Send me a scan or two and I'll add them to the mix.

External Links:

E. Simms Campbell's Wikipedia Entry

E. Simms Campbell on Ink Spill

E. Simms Campbell in Christopher Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery 

E. Simms Campbell in Print: Insider Histories: Black Cartoonist E. Simms Campbell. Robert C. Harvey intervied by Michael Dooley. March 3, 2015

E. Simms Campbell on We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie. October 6, 2012

E. Simms Campbell at American Art Archives

E. Simms Campbell on Eli Stein Cartoons.com:  "We All Have to Start Somewhere" Department. Case in Point No. 15. September 6, 2011

E. Simms Campbell in Potrzebie. October 10, 2007

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02482

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #589

Have a taste of my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #589 for October 23, 2017. The drawing is by Christopher Weyant.

"The chef has an encyclopedic vision of meatloaf."

These captions just didn't fit on the menu:

"Would Monsieur care to hear tonight's specials?"
"Don't forget to save room for dessert."
"Would you prefer the large-type?"

October 30, 2017 Update:  The Finalists

November 6, 2017 Update:  The finalist captions are all good. I never got to choose which I would vote for because the Caption Contest ended an hour earlier than I expected. Someone at the New Yorker forgot about turning the Caption Contest clock back an hour when daylight saving time ended.


November 13, 2017 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  What hump? Last week cartoonist David Borchart rang some bells. Claim sanctuary in Contest #588.

Christopher Weyant has been on this blog in a big way.

Try these gags on for size.

02344

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #572

Everybody in the pool! While you're there, could you help fish out my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #572 for June 5, 2017? The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"Now put that back in the birdbath where you found it."

Caption Contest throwaways:

"They always have to show us up."
"The pool volleyball match is off."
"Euclid who?"

June 19, 2017 Update:  The Finalists

June 26, 2017 Update:  I voted for the second caption.


July 3, 2017 Update:  Winning Caption:

Note:  Last time, cartoonist Charie Hankin gave us a pirate working the cash register in a coffee shop decorated with an anchor THIS big! After that, the Caption Contest declared a moratorium on all size gags. Oh, wait a minute... Anyway, mateys, abandon all hope ye who entered Contest #571—exceptin' ye havin' been declared one o' the finalists, o' course.

Have a ball reading my blog posts about Michael Maslin.

02215

The File on Buford Tune

Five obscure gag cartoons by Buford Tune come to us today courtesy of Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Clip File. The earliest three cartoons are from 1000 New Jokes published by Dell. The title was formerly known as Ballyhoo and would later be shortened to 1000 Jokes. This undated issue is from the late 1930's and is quite possibly the first of this title.

In the first Tune cartoon, the setting is a lighthouse. The sailors can't possibly have as good a view as we do:

"All the ships seem to be coming this way, Henry!"
Buford Tune, 1000 New Jokes, n.d., c. 1937-38, page 13

In the second cartoon, we can finally understand the appeal of tobacco:

"Henry's done nothing but sit and smoke for the past three days!"
Buford Tune, 1000 New Jokes, n.d., c. 1937-38, page 31

Somehow cartoonists like Tune seem to know instinctively what goes on in doctors' offices:

"But, doctor—I only have a sprained ankle!"
Buford Tune, 1000 New Jokes, n.d., c. 1937-38, page 32

From Click's Cartoon Annual of 1940, there is a well-executed but perhaps not so well-written gag about height. While the caption could use a little work, even so the gag is simply not that inspired.

"How old was young Thornton when he first came with us?"
Buford Tune, Click's Cartoon Annual, January 1940, Vol. 1, No. 1, page 93

Finally, a Collier's cartoon from 1941 shows Tune again adapting his style to a different market. This prompts the question: are the less risqué gags also less funny?

"My—what we would do to your skin if you could leave it overnight!"
Buford Tune, Collier's, October 26, 1941, page 61

Note:  These cartoons appear here courtesy of Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Clip File. Thanks, Dick.

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