The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 210

What's up with the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 210? It features a girl talking to a firefighter while an elephant sits in a tree. That's what's up. The cartoonist is Rusty Epstein. He's new to the contest and new to the blog.

The monthly cash prize contest has new rules which I seem compelled to repeat: Five dollars will still buy up to three entries but now three additional dollars can optionally buy a fourth entry, and so on and so forth. Real cash prizes are fifty percent of the total prize pool (previously $500 was the fifty percent) for first place and ten percent of the prize pool (previously $100) for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $275 into the first fifty-five pay-to-play contests and this fifty-sixth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $280. So far I haven't purchased any of the new $3 entries. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous cash prize entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, at least for the time being. Because the contest is no longer subsidized by cash from the vast coffers of CartoonStock, the contest's odds should now be just a little less favorable, I think, unless $3 entries are being purchased in bulk by the caption-impaired. The prize pool, as I prepared my captions in the 9:00 hour before the deadline, was already pushing up against that old thousand dollar level.

So here is my big chance to redeem myself after last month's weak showing. My three entries are shown below.

"Could you check under him for the cat?"
"Guess what happened to the swing."
"The one thing he can't remember is how he got up there."

September 27, 2026 Update:  The Winner

None of my captions made any of the lists in the judging video.

The Judges Deliberate

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #971

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #971 from the issue of December 8, 2025, a lumberjack with a chainsaw has just cut off the top of a tree. The angry tree speaks. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Rich Sparks.

"I happen to know you're not from the Sierra Club."

These captions didn't stand tall:

"You do realize I once worked for Disney."
"You're way out of your depth."
"That's how you see yourself—just a hobbyist?"

December 22, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

January 10, 2026 Update:  I voted for the caption from Comfort. I've always wanted to write that. 

January 17, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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The Art of the Redraw: Morticia and Lurch by Charles Addams

Three previously-unknown redraws of New Yorker cartoons by Charles Addams came to light when they were brought to auction early in 2021. One of them has the character we know today as Lurch bringing the one we call Morticia her tea. (Addams Family characters were not assigned names until the 1964 television series a full quarter century after this drawing was published.) There is a broken table lamp that serves as a single light source, allowing the two figures to be front lit while casting dark shadows behind them. Addams in 1939 was already a master of architectural detail, presenting it in a state of dilapidation to enhance the gothic, spooky atmosphere.

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

A cartoon by Charles Addams and a spot drawing by Roger Duvoisin

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1939-11-25/flipbook/016/

The cartoon was also to appear in Drawn and Quartered (1942), Addams's first collection:

https://thecarycollection.com/products/drawn-and-quartered-1942-addams-chas

It was later used on the cover of the first revised paperback edition published by Pocket Books (1964):

There was a published print with the caption printed in Addams's hand from his original:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/153076797703

The redraw of this cartoon was made no later than the late 1940s. There are some noteworthy differences from the New Yorker drawing, particularly the peering presence of Thing, above. It was sold at auction in early 2021 for a hammer price of 5500 GBP.

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
Redraw after
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
Redraw after
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
Redraw after
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

Chas Addams's signature is on the left, not the right, in the redraw. It is also a later signature than seen in the 1939 example.

Detail of Thing peering down from above. Thing is not to be found in the New Yorker drawing, although the ceiling panel is there.

Detail with foxing

Verso

Detail of verso

The handwritten caption is in all capital letters. Is it in Addams's hand?

Detail of Morticia and Lurch

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
Redraw after
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

Charles Addams
Lay's Auctioneers Fine Art Sale of January 29, 2021

https://www.davidlay.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-581---charles-addams-1912-1988-addams-family-cartoon/?lot=27264&so=4&st=addams&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=24&pn=1&g=1

Here they are, published drawing and redraw, presented together for comparison:

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

"Oh, it's you!  For a moment you gave me quite a start."
Charles Addams
Redraw after
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 16

Note:  I wish again to thank the uncredited individual who told me of this sale back when it happened. You know who you are.

* * *

Finally, we have a bonus for tree lovers from the New Yorker page opposite the Addams cartoon:

Tree Movers
Spot drawing
Roger Duvoisin
The New Yorker, November 25, 1939, p. 17

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #867

There are two trees and one is wearing a tie. Welcome to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #867 from the issue of September 25, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Avi Steinberg.

"Call me old-fashioned, but I'd prefer a yellow ribbon."

October 7, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

October 14, 2023 Update:  I must have forgotten to vote. Even now I don't have a clear preference here.

October 21, 2023 Update:  The Winner

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My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for Winter 2022

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Winter 2022 issue recalls many a vivid nightmare. My several captions are shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

Moment's contest entries often reflect a specifically Jewish sense of humor, so some explanation of my terms may be in order here. A kippah is the Hebrew word for a head covering, or yarmulke in Yiddish. Tu BiShvat is the Jewish Arbor Day. Dreidel is a game of chance played during Chanukah with a four-sided top, but you already know that. Netflix you know too.

"This is so embarrassing. I forgot my kippah."

"And these are my good-luck briefs."

"Well, how do YOU celebrate Tu BiShvat?"

"Tell Benjamin Schwartz this isn't as funny as it looks."

"Worst of all, I was treed by a rabbit."

"My wife got everything in the divorce."

“That’s the last time I play strip dreidel.”
“Just keep yelling until I wake up.”
"Take a hint from Netflix and don't look up."

March 28, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

July 16, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #76

We're now up to the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #76. The filename for the image is Bird Hygge. I had to look it up, but it works. My entries are shown here. The drawing is by Ellis Rosen.

"It's time you learned there's more to life than nuts."
"I never considered worms to be comfort food."
"Deal: you scratch my wing—I fan your tail."
"Once treed, I vowed to make the best of it."

June 3, 2020:  The Winner

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ellis Rosen

Birds

Squirrels

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 Comfy Index

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Gahan Wilson: The Very Few

My friend Jerome Wrinkle has contributed scans of an original New Yorker cartoon by Gahan Wilson. Those who have come to know Mr. Wilson's art will not be surprised at how beautifully the drawing is rendered. The subject matter is unusual, but fans of the cartoonist no doubt are used to that as well.

Gahan Wilson
"Very few leave the grove!"
Original art
The New Yorker, January 5, 2004, page 52

Scan by Jerome Wrinkle

Verso

Scan by Jerome Wrinkle

Gahan Wilson
"Very few leave the grove!"
The New Yorker, January 5, 2004, page 52

Scan by Jerome Wrinkle

Note:  You can help support cartoonist Gahan Wilson's memory care here.

Thanks to Jerome Wrinkle for his worthy scans. This post is Mr. Wrinkle's eighth contribution to Attempted Bloggery. I have just updated an earlier post about the late Dana Fradon (1922-2019) with three of Jerome's superb scans here.

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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #594

Autumn comes to the Caption Contest. Here is my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #594 for November 27, 2017. The drawing is by Maggie Lawson. 

"It's so cute when nature lovers dress like lumberjacks!"

December 4, 2017 Update:  The Finalists

December 11, 2017 Update:  Although I like the second caption a lot, I voted for the first, it being more akin to my own submission.


December 25, 2107 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Last week, cartoonist Tom Cheney was quite the backstabber. My caption was too dull. Rub salt into the wound of Contest #593.

Maggie Lawson is brand new to the blog! She's a cartoonist and she's okay...

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Edna Eicke's Red Maple Tree in Westport

One of the great things about attending "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" last year was the local perspective of the exhibition. The Westport Historical Society assembled an impressive array of New Yorker covers created by seventeen area artists. The curators were able to point out some of the familiar scenes depicted on those covers. For example, the show included a photograph of a local red maple tree some seven decades after it was the subject of a New Yorker cover by Edna Eicke. One can hardly recognize it.

Now the Westport Historical Society is once again visiting this rich subject matter. The new show, "Talk of the Town," features sixteen photographs by Michael Goss showing the Westport area today. These images are displayed alongside corresponding New Yorker covers. It opened September 25 and will run through October 26. I hope the elegant red maple tree is again included.

Lawrence S. Untemeyer, The Red Maple Tree
Exhibited in "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" from January 26 to July 5, 2014
The Westport Historical Society

Edna Eicke, The New Yorker, October 18, 1952

Note:  I reported on "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" back in 2014.

You can also see my post about Edna Eicke's cover featuring the Lobster Inn in Southampton. What was she doing there?

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Tree Removal on Nassau Street

Summer provides a brief window for colleges and universities to spruce up their campuses. Here two large trees near the entrance to Princeton University on Nassau Street come down.

The limbs have already been removed on June 20, 2015

"X" marks the spot, June 20, 2015

Tree stump, August 29, 2015

Note:  See more posts about Princeton University.

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