Droodle

Droodles are a kind of cartoon popularized in the U.S. by Roger Price's 1953 book Droodles. The trademarked name "Droodle" is a nonsense word suggesting both "doodle" and "riddle." Their general form is minimal: a square box containing a few abstract pictorial elements, and under that a caption (or several) giving a humorous "explanation" of the picture's subject. For example, a Droodle depicting three concentric shapes &mdash; little circle, medium circle, big square &mdash; might have the caption "Aerial view of a cowboy in a Port-a-john."

Droodles in America are (or were) purely a form of entertainment, like any other nonsense cartoon, and appeared in pretty much the same places (newspapers, paperback collections, bathroom walls) during their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. The commercial success of Price's collections of Droodles led to the founding of the publishing house Price-Stern-Sloan, and also to the creation of a Droodles-themed game show. There was also a droodle-based game called "Mysteriosos" on HBO's Braingames. Series of newspaper advertisements for the News and Max brands of cigarettes featured cigarette-themed Droodles.

One of Price's original Droodles serves as the cover art for Frank Zappa's 1982 album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. Price's other captions for that drawing include "Mother pyramid feeding her baby." The Italian musician Alfonso Lucifredi, who usually gives nonsense titles to his instrumental songs, used the title 'Droodles' on a track of his 2007 self-titled album. .