Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Contesting Chandoba's Photo Caption Competition

Bob Mankoff of The New Yorker said on January 19 2011:

"When The New Yorker started its caption contest, in 2005, it quickly became the world’s most popular weekly cartoon caption contest. I don’t have any data to back this up, but back then, just having a weekly cartoon caption contest made us the world’s most popular one. Five years and more than a million and a half entries later, a Google search for “cartoon caption contest” yields about 292,000 results...

I’ve been pretty frustrated by all of them, not due to the copycat factor but because I haven’t been able to win..."

I can understand Mr. Mankoff's frustration.

I wonder when did the first picture (photo, cartoon...) caption contest debut anywhere in the world?

For me it started in children's magazine 'Chandamama'. Marathi version of it 'Chandoba' (चांदोबा) was launched in April 1952. (Past issues of Chandoba are available here.)

I don't know in which month's issue the caption contest was launched but when I started reading the magazine, c 1967, it was well established.

In Marathi, it was called 'photo jodanaave chadaaod' (फोटो जोडनावे चढाओढ). I think as a family we tried to win the contest by attempting it a couple of times but failed.

Here is a typical contest:

Contest: from January 1969 issue

Winning Entry: from March 1969 issue by Ms. Lata Kharade, Mumbai (लता खराडे, मुंबई)

"आपण दोघे मित्र जणू / शुभ्र वेषांत !" "मैत्रीचा गोड घास घे / तुझ्या मुखांत !!"

(p.s. Today they may get an entry saying that we shouldn't encourage feeding animals in captivity at zoo!)
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 11, 2011 at 3:59 AM

    Thanks for re-creating the nostalgia. I had almost forgotten about the "Photo Jodnave"... I enjoyed the photos. You must have kept some really old archive issues in your portfolio :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. mannabMay 11, 2011 at 7:27 AM

    'चांदोबा' मासिकातील "फोटो जोडनावे चढाओढ" यांचे जुने फोटो देउन आपण मला पुनःप्रत्ययाचा आनंद मिळवून दिलात, याबद्दल आभार. तो चांदोबा गेला...! परंतु याची दखल न्यू यॉर्कर घेईल काय हे विचारावेसे वाटते.
    मंगेश नाबर.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aniruddha G. KulkarniMay 11, 2011 at 8:33 AM

    Thanks Mangesh.

    I agree New Yorker may never learn about Chandoba.

    Anonymous, I don't have old issues. I access them on the web.

    best,

    ReplyDelete
  4. Veetthal Pandurang.May 14, 2011 at 5:32 AM

    Aniruddha,

    I've been reading your blog for quite a while now and I'm amazed at the range of sources you quote/use/link. I'll find it highly useful if you compile a list of your oft-used sources. What makes the staple of your media diet?

    Thanks,
    Sayyad

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aniruddha G. KulkarniMay 14, 2011 at 8:17 AM

    Thanks Sayyad.

    I feel our planet is so rich and we and our fellow life are such complex creatures.

    If one remains curious, one keeps stumbling upon.

    Earlier good newspapers and magazines in India used to "stumble upon" for their readers. Now they all eat from the same corporate-sponsored trough. But I want variety and hence the struggle.

    I will give a thought to your suggestion of compiling "a list of your oft-used sources."

    Thanks again for being a perceptive reader.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adi Beeja EkaleDecember 23, 2012 at 8:55 PM

    So Aniruddha,

    Have you compiled your resources as Veetthal suggests?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aniruddha G. KulkarniDecember 24, 2012 at 8:56 AM

    Not really...I am too lazy for that...but I still may...best

    ReplyDelete

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