My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #949

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #949 from the issue of June 23, 2025, four people in business attire stand on a surfboard riding a wave. The man standing in front, possibly the boss, is speaking. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Christopher Weyant.

"Cowabunga! Pass it down."

These captions didn't catch any waves:

"Take a memo:  Cowabunga!"
"Who's the most innovative department now?"
"Who knows the theme to Hawaii 5-0?"
"Wait, who's photographing this?"
"I give you the cover of next year's annual report."
"I need to let one of you go."

July 2, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

July 19, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from Wendell.

July 26, 2025 Update:  The Winner

Note:  Attempted Bloggery is fourteen years old today. Why not treat yourself to something nice?

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Richard Oldden: Elephants and Submarines

Is this really the way to sell original cartoon art? Four more drawings by Richard Oldden changed hands on eBay on May 5 for a paltry $67.51 plus $20 shipping. Their publication history is unknown. In the space of a week, six distinct groupings of four original works each were sold on the online auction platform, along with another smaller group of two known to be from The New Yorker. Oldden's work doesn't come to the market all that often and this type of sudden mass sale only serves to commodify the art and overwhelm the potential buyers.

Oldden delighted in drawing all manner of complex things. The settings are exotic. In this group we see submarines in two drawings, Indian elephants, and a Middle Eastern oil refinery.

Two of the cartoons have captions . . . 

  "Ahoy there, fishing boat!"                          "Hold them until we find her other lens."

. . . and two do not.

Versos with New York stamps

Richard Oldden
eBay listing ended May 5, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374663675198?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

Richard Oldden
eBay item description

Richard Oldden
eBay bid history
After seven days, two bidders place two last minute bids four seconds apart. The last bid gets it all.

Note:  If you can find any of these cartoons somewhere out there on the printed page, please send word.

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My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for Summer 2022

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Summer 2022 issue shows us God addressing two angels while heading off carrying a surfboard. My captions are shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"While I'm gone, replace all the Hallelujahs with Cowabungas."
"Zeus was never this cool."
"Cue the theme to 'Hawaii Five-O' on harps."
"Go write a psalm in praise of gnarly waves."
"Here's a hint: It isn't the Commandments I'll be hanging ten of."

There's no limit to the number of submissions permitted, but I still couldn't justify entering these:

"Noah wasn't any more fun than you two."
"No one remembers I created awesomeness."
"Stay behind if you like, but this will all be Instagrammable."

October 7, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

November 12, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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