In 1985, Dave Morice began The Wooden Nickel Art Project. He ordered 1,000 wooden nickels printed with "Artist's Wooden Nickel" on one side. The other side was left blank. He gave them to friends, relatives, and strangers, and asked them to write or draw whatever they wanted on the blank side and to sign and date the other side. He also sent about 2,000 nickels to well-known people, and 400 responded by decorating their nickels and sending them back. In return, he published a photocopy book titled Catalog of the Wooden Nickel Art Project^] and sent a copy to each contributor. The collection has been exhibited at The Iowa City Public Library, The Coralville Public Library, and The University of Iowa Credit Union.

Here are 50 of the wooden nickel artists: Muhammad Ali, Isaac Asimov, Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, Larry Bird, Mel Brooks, Barbara Bush, John Cage, Frank Capra, Johnny Cash, Chevy Chase, Julie Christie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Doris Day, Robert De Niro, Federico Fellini, A.J. Foyt, Lillian Gish, Veronica Hamil, Johnny Hart, Jesse Helms, Bob Hope, Ken Kesey, Henry Kissinger, Burt Lancaster, Spike Lee, Jack Lemmon, Ursula K. Le Guin, Madeleine L'Engle, Sol Le Witt, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, George Plimpton, Pete Rozelle, Pete Seeger, Dr. Seuss, William Shatner, Frank Sinatra, Ringo Starr, Lily Tomlin, John Travolta, Garry Trudeau, Lana Turner, Johnny Unitas, Kurt Vonnegut, George Wallace, Henry Winkler, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Charles Manson didn't receive his wooden nickel, so he sent two self-portraits instead, one in black and white, and one in color.

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I highlighted the cartoonists listed. I created one, too, just for fun. I didn't have an actual wooden blank, so I did my art digitally on a blank blank.

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Frog Applause Descriptions, Comments, and Promotional Blurbs

I want to add to or replace the ABOUT FROG APPLAUSE quote above. If you have another description in mind, kindly share it. I'll probably list several descriptions in addition to this one. I have so many talented writers among my readership, that I doubt I could choose one, two or even three descriptions. All are welcome! Thank you.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would find this strip funny or entertaining. “—pbo67

"This is absolutely the dumbest cartoon ever.”—damifino59

“Survey says: you were drawn by a really bad cartoonist.”—Sack of Rabid Weasels

The comments above were later discovered to be ghost-puppeted by another GoComics creator (whose name is known by most of my readers), later outed here:

If you don't know this chickensh!t's identity, write to me, and I'll tell you.  He still has a cartoon on GoComics!

Frog Applause is a bizarre yet enjoyable combination of strange phrases and unexpected art.--GoComics promo

Some readers have been so upset with Frog Applause that they were suspended or banned from the GoComics website because they couldn’t temper their language or their rage. The strip brought 

out the worst in some people, and they just "lost it”. But what about Frog Applause made certain readers lose their shiitake mushrooms?

 

 

Some people were further outraged because instead of inflicting pain and suffering on Teresa with their comments, she embraced their words, spotlighted them on her blog, then offered a comment of her own, often deriding the hater for not trying harder to be original or creatively hateful enough.

Using the comments that mocked her strip, Teresa often incorporated those comments into new Frog Applause 

material, which probably wasn’t the desired result by the person who hoped to crush Teresa’s spirit.

"I was trying to remember when I started reading Frog Applause, and I think it was some time after I started reading Teresa’s (now defunct) blog. She had this post called,"Yes, we feel the love," (I think) and there were these really mean-spirited comments about the comic that she posted. And that was what piqued my curiosity. Could it really be that bad? I had to take a look, even though I didn't normally read comics. And then I looked, and looked, and looked, and laughed my butt off and got a GoComics membership and subscribed. So, in summary: I started following Frog Applause because somebody said it was awful." —Zelmarific

We need more cartoonists who are willing to challenge our sense of aesthetics and our cultural taboos. —Ted Mallory, mal•toons 

"Can anybody describe the comic strip Frog Applause to me? I like it, but I don't know why.” —Unknown

"So wrong, Frog Applause”—Unknown

Teresa Burritt was born in Kansas City, Missouri on National Cartoonist's Day (May 5). Her comic strip Frog Applause has been described as "enticing and welcoming like the womb of a marshmallow mermaid" and has enjoyed a cult following since 2006.--GoComics promo

Teresa Burritt has created a strange little world in Frog Applause where people morph into other people, thoughts run wild, and the fourth wall is often broken. Read early, read often - this is a one-of-a-kind strip.--GoComics promo

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Peas click here...

There's a new door to Frog Blog on the bottom of my FROG APPLAUSE page. 

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