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| Title | Seattle Post-Intelligencer photographer Art French, probably in Seattle, 1938 |
| Photographer | Staff Photographer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Date | 1938 |
| Caption | Photographer Art "Happy" French found a way to earn "three times the money in one-tenth the time" and took early retirement from his job at the P-I. One day in December 1943, French looked out the window of the P-I building and saw a long line of kids trying to get into the department store across the street to see Santa Claus. He walked over and took a few pictures of the happy little faces telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. The pictures became so successful the following year he took a leave of absence and sold candid snaps for $1 a print. He ended up earning $10, 000 in five weeks, commenting "What the hell, there is a Santa Claus."
French (called Happy because he never looked it) was typical of newspaper photographers of his day in that he had little formal schooling and a strong nonconformist streak. Beginning his career at the P-I in 1923, French made a reputation for his trick photography and composite images. He was able to produce better snowstorm pictures than his rivals by splattering ink on his negatives. Known for his sassy remarks, when Romania's Queen Marie asked him, "Don't you ever shave?" he replied, "Say, I been following you for the last coupla days at 60 miles an hour; when d'ja think I'd have time to shave?" Upon his retirement from the P-I in 1946, staffers threw him a party and management gave him a wristwatch; both were sorry to see him leave. |
| Notes | Handwritten on sleeve: French, Art, Seattle photographer.
Caption information source: P-I exhibit.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): February 26, 1938. |
| Subjects | Photojournalists--Washington (State)--Seattle; Photographic apparatus & supplies--Washington (State)--Seattle; Darkrooms--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Personal Names | French, Arthur E. |
| Places | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital Collection | Museum of History & Industry Photograph Collection |
| Image Number | 1986.5.25638.2 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@mohai.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph. |
| Credit Line | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle; All Rights Reserved |
| Repository | Museum of History & Industry, Seattle (MOHAI) |
| Repository Collection | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection |
| Type | Image |
| Physical Description | 1 nitrate negative: b&w; 4 x 5 in. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original negative as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 600 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
