In the words of Monty Python, “And now for something completely different…”
The ad art featured in the Classic Captions series typically dates from the 1950s through ’80s. But in my quest for journalistic excellence novelty, we’re going all the way back to the roaring 20s, when cars were still young and magazine illustrations were still drawn by hand. In this monochromatic depiction from 1925, Ma is tending her flowers when a uniformed boy jumps out of a man’s touring car and runs to her holding a leather bag and a be-ribboned proclamation of some sort. Is her son a recent military school graduate? I can only assume the context of this scene was less inscrutable to the ad’s contemporary audience, but today it could as easily be a delivery boy, notifying her that she’s won American Tourister’s free luggage giveaway. And is the man in the car just dropping him off, or is that Dad? And if so, why is he still behind the wheel? It’s all up to you good people: tell us what you see in this image with a clever caption.

Last week’s trip to Willys’ (“Willys’s”?) phony Brazilian beach was ripe for the riffing, and you guys didn’t disappoint. That clever and urbane professor mdharrell won the most upvotes with his unexpected reference to the background illustration: “…and now we’re lost in a Chuck Jones feature. I knew we should’a taken that left turn at Albuquerque.” Repeat winner 0A5599 was just a vote shy with, “As America prospered, 1950’s consumer preferences trended to larger and larger cars, and the Aero quickly left the marketplace. Brazilians, however, understood that with Willys, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it.” Oh, snap!