Status as of 8:40AM on Friday, August 21

The cartoonist, Richard Guindon, has created a new version of the cartoon for which he has granted his permission to reproduce the cartoon on Joel Lanir's doctoral disseratation. Joel's research looks at technology in the classroom.

You can see the new version of the cartoon under the title "Classroom" in the "Detritus" section of Guindon's website.

Status as of 8:56PM on Monday, August 17

The contest is closed. We have a verified winner. The prize will be awarded. No honorable mention will be awarded because there was a winner.

On Aug 15, 2009, at 8:46PM, Kaitlin Duck Sherwood wrote:

From Schooling in the light of popular culture, p. 237

In a 1967 cartoon, a large tape recorder sits a[t] the head of the class, while smaller tape recorders are at the students' desk. No one is in sight. The caption reads, "Good morning, students." [27]

The citation is to

Kappan, 48(5):205

and presumably the Kappan instance is a reprint. Thus going to the Kappan source will probably give you the original citation.

This is indeed the cartoon I was looking for. I was able to retrieve a copy on-line via the Education Library at UBC. As luck would have it, the hardcopy for this issue had recently been sent off to archival storage (the shelves were literally bare, having not yet been filled with anything else).

The cartoonist was Richard Guindon in Esquire magazine. You can see the cartoon using JSTOR (which requires a UBC login):

CLICK HERE

The Kappan instance of the cartoon credits Esquire, with a 1966 date. I will be following up on that in due course.

Disbursement of the prize will take place as soon as I make arrangements with Ducky.

Items of interest that people subsequently sent me (in chronological order of my receiving it):

Status as of 3:48PM on Monday, August 17

The original appeared in Esquire in 1966. Still tracking that down, but the definitive reference that located it is Kappan, 48(5):205. More details later.

Status as of 10:06PM on Monday, August 17

The CS web server switched over to Apache, so my pages were not visible. They are now. There was a delay because cascade.cs.ubc.ca apparently went down while I was fixing the web server problem.

Status as of 1:26PM on Sunday, August 16

Ducky Sherwood found a citation to what is probably a reprint of the cartoon. The citation is to 1967, but the original may still have been 1964 or some other time prior to 1967. Ducky's lead is being followed up. She was the first responder.

Three people have looked through the New Yorker cartoon archive for 1964 (and some other years), to no avail. As indicated in the original message, the New Yorker staff were not able to locate the cartoon given the description.

Original message

I will pay for lunch for two (you and a person of your choice, maximum $120 tax and tip included) to the first person who successfully provides a useful answer to the following question:

Where and when was the original cartoon published that is described in the first three sentences of the opening paragraph of this excerpt from a book by Peter Denning.

http://www.doiiit.gmu.edu/Archives/feb98/pjd_1.htm

Everyone of my generation (and many who are younger) can describe the cartoon, but I cannot find a definitive reference to it.

An good answer to the question should include:

  1. Name of publication
  2. Date of publication
  3. Page on which the cartoon appeared
  4. Name of the cartoonist

An acceptable answer would have just the first two pieces of information, although the third would be much appreciated, for obvious reasons.

The prize will be awarded only if the information can be verified. The ideal way to verify the information is to have a copy of the publication, or at least the page on which the cartoon appeared.

If no acceptable answer is received, an "honorable mention" of lunch for one (maximum $60) will be awarded to anyone who provides a copy of the cartoon, even if there is no attribution. Note: (added in a follow up message) The honorable mention prize is awarded only if no acceptable answer is received, and only if a copy of the cartoon is provided.

WARNING: Knock offs of the cartoon (copies, modernized versions that show computers instead of tape recorders, etc.) will probably not be accepted for the honorable mention prize and definitely not for the main prize.

Email me if you think you have the answer.

The contest closes on September 10, or earlier if an acceptable answer is received prior to that date.