Charles M. Schulz began his Peanuts comic strip in 1950 and in 1952 published the first of what would come to be many collections. It was simply named Peanuts. A copy of a later printing of the first edition is signed by Schulz and includes an original drawing of the character Schroeder in profile accompanied by a trio of hand-drawn musical notes. It's evident that Schulz's rendering of Schroeder evolved quite a bit from the time he drew the cover illustration. This splendid volume is offered by Raptis Rare Books of Palm Beach for $4,000. There is still plenty of time for some lucky music or comics lover to get it before Beethoven's birthday.
Another monthly contest already? The CartoonStock Caption Contest number 209 is set in a laboratory where an ape is perhaps doomscrolling on his cell phone while a pair of researchers looks on. The man in the lab coat is speaking. The cartoonist is Kaamran Hafeez.
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, but more this month) 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 $270 into the first fifty-four pay-to-play contests and this fifty-fifth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $275. 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. The prize pool, as I prepared my captions in the final hour before the deadline—when else would I enter?—was, as I've already hinted, securely above that old thousand dollar level.
So here is my big chance to redeem myself after last month's poor showing. My three entries are shown above the break. There is a fourth caption which is somewhat meta. I considered paying another $3 to put it out there, but then I thought better of it.
"As our new lab assistant, it will be your job to take it away from him." "We can't get him off Truth Social." "Frankly, we have no idea what Caesar is up to." * * * "I wish he had joined that barbershop quartet instead."
I'm afraid that last caption doesn't stand on its own. It should be an easily-recognized reference to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #1002 which had its deadline on Monday night. If you know, you know. I saved my $3 because he's an ape, not a monkey.
In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #1002 from the issue of August 17, 2026, four monkeys sing in a barbershop quartet while two laboratory workers observe them through glass. The older woman speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.
"So you found them at the bottom of the barrel?"
These captions were not in tune:
"They're swell. You and I are no longer in harmony." "Run your next project by me first." "Great job. We've been defunded."
In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #1001 from the issue of August 10, 2026, four snails sit around a campfire at night. One holds a flashlight to his face and speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Lynn Hsu.
"With horror I realized I had wandered into a convention of French chefs."
These captions were too scary even for me:
"His white whale was a blonde ale." "It was then that I realized I couldn't outrun the man with the saltshaker." "When I arrived in Margaritaville, my nemesis was searching for his lost shaker of salt."
August 26, 2026 Update: The Finalists
September 3, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from beautiful downtown Burbank.
We finally made it to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #1000! It is from the issue of August 3, 2026, two men look upon a stone in which many swords are buried nearly up to their hilts. The man holding a staff speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Lars Kenseth.
"None of them will make you the Burger King."
August 16, 2026 Update: The Finalists
August 26, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Sandia Park.
In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #999 from the issue of July 27, 2026, a couple seated in their living room look up at a giant hole in the wall through which an elephant has just run out. The man speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
"Enough with the dad jokes."
I decided to stay away from the most obvious take:
"Now what do we avoid talking about?"
August 9, 2026 Update: The Finalists
August 16, 2026 Update:I voted for the caption from Seattle.
In 1992, Éditions Denoël published Quelques artistes et gens de lettres by Jean-Jacques Sempé, himself a cartoon artist and a man of letters. I don't think this book was ever printed in an English language edition. A superb copy is offered for sale by the Paris bookseller Librairie Le Feu Folet [Will-o'-the-Wisp, if you will]. It is reportedly inscribed to one Roger Karenvent although I don't believe that is the actual surname Sempé wrote. Nevertheless, the original recipient, Roger K., whoever he was, received a very nice drawing in his book of an artist at work on a still life.
I went out Monday for a Restaurant Week dinner and I was very much in favor of a license plate I noticed along the way. Truthfully, I don't see how one could be against it. Nevertheless, isn't it wrong to end a car with a preposition?
On Sunday, a cement carrier named NACC New Yorker made its way up the East River accompanied by a tug boat. The ship flies under the Portuguese flag out of Madeira. Yes, the New Yorker.
It's late at night in Apartment 3K. Seventy years ago, the readers of Collier's were treated to a wonderful cartoon by a wonderful cartoonist: William Steig.
William Steig Orignal art Collier's, May 11, 1956
Evidently rejected by The New Yorker which would have had first crack at it, the drawing presents us with a couple uniquely suited to each other.
William Steig Framed, orignal art
Collier's, May 11, 1956
The framed original art was listed some two months ago by Honey & Wax Booksellers of Philadelphia and it remains available at the time of this posting.
William Steig AbeBooks listing accessed July 21, 2026
