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Robert W. Patten "Umbrella Man" photographs and cartoons, 1910-1911
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Robert W. Patten "Umbrella Man" photographs and cartoons
- Dates
- 1910-1911 (inclusive)19101911
- Quantity
-
25 photographs and
postcards (1 folder) ; 3.5"x5"
1 glass plate negative : glass plate negative ; 5"x7" - Collection Number
- PH0868
- Summary
- Postcards with photographs and cartoons portraying Seattle's "Umbrella Man" Robert W. Patten, 1910
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Robert W. Patten (1832-1913) arrived in Seattle in the 1890s sporting his invention and the source of his celebrity, the Umbrella Hat. Patten, with his bushy beard and hair, round smiling face, and signature headpiece, became a familiar sight on Seattle streets. He told tales of his adventure-filled life, including his adoption as a runaway child by Winnebago Indian Chief Big John, hunting with Kit Carson, and being selected by Lincoln during the Civil War to serve as Chief U.S. Scout. Patten worked in Seattle as a fix-it man and lived on a houseboat on Lake Union. Seattle's "Umbrella Man" died in 1913 at the age of 81.
Patten's signature umbrella hat inspired the cartoonist, John Ross "Dok" Hager to create a series of folksy cartoons, starting in 1909, that had the Umbrella man dispensing witty sayings on the front page of the newspaper. A flag coming out of his umbrella hat would have the weather forecast. Many of the cartoons referenced Seattle's image as a place where it rains all the time.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Photographic and cartoon postcards portraying Seattle's "Umbrella Man" Robert W. Patten. The cartoons were drawn by John Ross "Dok" Hager, originally for publication as a regular feature on the Seattle Timesfront page, with captions dispensing folk wit and weather forecasts. All but one of the postcards are marked "Copyright, 1910 by Times Printing Company of Seattle."
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
View the digital version of the collection
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Source: Fairlook Antiques, January 2007, 12 cartoon postcards; March 2010, 6 cartoon postcards ; Allen Doyle, November 5, 2007, 1 glass plate negative; 2 photographic postcards transferred from Portrait collection, 2008; 1 photographic postcard and 4 cartoon postcards transferred from Seattle Postcard collection, 2008.
Processing Note
Processed by Nicolette Bromberg, 2010.
Part of collection accessioned as PH2009-002. Photographs transferred from Seattle Postcard collection 2008.
Bibliography
Patten, Robert W. (1832-1913), "Seattle's famed Umbrella Man" HistoryLink.org Essay 3149
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Photographs, 1910Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 1 |
Patten in front of house with umbrella
and cane
Postcard. Written on back: Seattle, Apr. 28, 1916. My dear Miss
Ober, Have you one of these, the original of our Weather Man? All good wishes,
Edith Covey
|
circa 1910 |
Box | |||
XGB1 | 2a | Patten on Seattle street (or possibly
on a dock) in front of an advertisement for the S.S. Ohio sailing to Nome,
Alaska
The glass plate negative of this image contains more of the
photograph than is printed on the postcard.
|
circa 1910 |
Folder | |||
1 | 2b | circa 1910 |
"Dok" Hager cartoons, 1910Return to Top
The cartoons portraying Seattle's "Umbrella Man," Robert W. Patten, were drawn by John Ross "Dok" Hager, originally for publication as a regular feature on the Seattle Timesfront page, with captions dispensing folk wit and weather forecasts.
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 3 | January 11, 1910 | |
1 | 4 | January 31, 1910 | |
1 | 5 | February 7, 1910 | |
1 | 6 | February 11, 1910 | |
1 | 7 | February 26, 1910 | |
1 | 8 | circa March 1910 | |
1 | 9 |
"Cheer Up! We all have our little
troubles."
Written on the back of the postcard: The old "Umbrella Man" has
been a source of a great deal of amusement to us this winter. Hope he will
remind you of Seattle. We are having glorious weather - the spring flowers are
all out. Hope you are enjoying yourself. Sincerely, A.C.
|
circa March 1910 |
1 | 10 | circa May 1910 | |
1 | 11 | circa June 1910 | |
1 | 12 | circa June 1910 | |
1 | 13 | circa June 1910 | |
1 | 14 | circa July 1910 | |
1 | 15 | circa August 1910 | |
1 | 16 | 1910 | |
1 | 17 | 1910 | |
1 | 18 | 1910 | |
1 | 19 | 1910 | |
1 | 20 | 1910 | |
1 | 21 |
"Say, let me tell you there's no
straddlin' of the credit question at the Standard; they just fix it so us
Seattle folks can git what we want and pay any old time! Great,
eh?"
Postcard advertisment for Standard Furniture Company. Printed on
verso: "The Umbrella Man," R.W. Patten, the Famous Weather Prophet of the
Seattle Times.
|
1910 |
1 | 22 | 1910 | |
1 | 23 |
"I'm goin' to take our champeen package
of sunshine to my pal."
Postcard advertising space rates for theSeattle Timeswhich shows the Umbrella Man pulling a
wagon containing a huge newspaper titled the "Eighth Annual Number of the
Seattle Sunday Times.
|
1910 |
1 | 24 |
"Why sure! Rubber all you want. That's
what we're here for."
Postcard advertisement for Lowman & Hanford Company's new
publicationThe Umbrella Mancontaining a collection
of cartoons by Dok Hager.
|
1911 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Personal Names
- Patten, Robert W., 1832-1913--Photographs
Form or Genre Terms
- Postcards
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)