Robert W. Patten "Umbrella Man" photographs and cartoons

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	Patten on Seattle street (or possibly on a dock) in front of an advertisement for the S.S. Ohio sailing to Nome, Alaska Postcard print.	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	"When Sagittarius is shootin' at a dark moon and Salisbury is yellin' rain and the Kuro Siwo is hittin' it up lively, look out for wetness."	January 11, 1910
1	4	"Lookin' for my affinity."	January 31, 1910
1	5	"Looks like Burns is goin' to have a wet one."	February 7, 1910
1	6	"I always did want to jine that hunt club."	February 11, 1910
1	7	"Hike out Ducky, and see if you kin find any land."	February 26, 1910
1	8	"Lord save me from another dry town."	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	"Feels like a cold wave's comin."	circa May 1910
1	11	"Speaking of figures, you should see my shape."	circa June 1910
1	12	"Be it ever so ugly, there's no face like your own."	circa June 1910
1	13	"If you want some advice, ask a fool; a wise man won't give any."	circa June 1910
1	14	"Drink like a fish--water only."	circa July 1910
1	15	"I am thinkin' of you."	circa August 1910
1	16	"Kiro Siwo Forbidden fruit is sweeter."	1910
1	17	"It will be a low down trick if the weatherman turns the water on me now."	1910
1	18	"I don't like to help spile that Sunday outin' but it looks wet for joy rides."	1910
1	19	"The lid is on here."	1910
1	20	"Accidents will happen."	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	"Perch ain't bitin' this kind o' weather nor hens aint layin' so you kin notice it, but we've got clams to fall back on."	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

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