PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

THE CONTRACT

BY THOMAS YANUL
copyright 2001
My intent with this site is not to provide a lot of photos of the Columbian Exposition. There are many sites, books, and libraries where one can see these photos if they haven't already.
My concern is more the particulars of the business. And to that end I would like to say something about the concession contract as "Official Photographer".
Editor's Note: I have made a photocopy of  the original contract as it was, the property of the Higinbotham family archives. Since I do now have a scanner I will only quote certain aspects  of the contract and at a later time will reproduce the four-page  in toto.
The contract is dated April 21, 1893, stating that the World's Columbian Exposition Corporation has established a Bureau of Photography "for the purpose of developing, promoting and controlling the making and sale of photographs of the grounds and buildings of the party of the first part and their contents.(the first part is the Corporation).
"and to the said Bureau shall belong the exclusive right to make and sell photographs of the grounds of the party of the first part, and contents thereoff, excepting however rights conferred by the party of the first part concerning rights and priviliges heretofor granted; and also the right to license the use of kodaks [notice  lower case "kodaks"-a term applied to any cameras] or other photographic cameras upon the exposition grounds,charging a fee therefor.
" The party of the first part agrees to erect the necessary building or buildings for the said Bureau of Photography, and to purchase all furnishings, equipment and supplies necessary for the proper conduct of its business, and to employ and pay all necessary help, all said expenditures, including also the salaries herinafter provided to be paid to the parties of the second part (Arnold & Higinbotham)and all other expenses of the party of the first part on account of said Bureau, to be kept in a seperate account, carefully itemized and charged against the said Bureau of Photography.
"It is agreed that the current receipts of the said Bureau of Photography from the sale of the said photographs or reproductions thereof in any form, photographic albums, licenses and all the sources whatever, shall be kept as a seperate account, carefully itemized and placed to the said Bureau of Photography, and that the money received by the party of the first part received for the rights to make and sell stereoscopic views from Benjamin Kilburn and James M.Davis, and the receipts of the party of the first part from the taking of photographic portraits upon the exposition grounds shall also be placed to the credit of said Bureau.
"The party of the first part agrees to employ the parties of the second part as official photographers in charge of the said Bureau of Photography, and it agrees that each shall receive as compensation for his services a salary at the rate of two thousand ($2000) dollars per annum, and ten percent of the net receipts from the said Bureau of Photography after deducting from the gross receipts of the said Bureau of  Photography from all sources, all the expenses of the said Bureau, including the said salaries, as herinafter provided.
"The parties of the second part agree to devote their entire time and best energies to the business and interests of said Bureau of Photography,and to take entire charge and management of the making and selling of said photographs and reproductions thereof, the licensing of the use of the said kodaks and other cameras, and all other business of the said Bureau, under the supervision and control of the party of the first part, and they agree that the price of every article offered by them shall be subject to the approval of the party of the first part.
"The parties of the second part shall not have the  right to sublet or dispose of any right or priviledge hereby granted to the said Bureau of Photography, without the consent of the party of the first part.
"The parties of the second part agree that all photographs made by the said Bureau of Photography shall be copyrighted in the name of the party of the first part, and that the copyrights of all photographs of exposition subjects heretofore obtained by the said Arnold in his own name shall be assigned to the party of the first part.
"It is agreed that the salvage, if there be any, from the building or buildings erected for the use for the said Bureau of Photography, when removed, shall be placed to the credit of the said Bureau of Photography as a portion of the gross receipts hereinabove mentioned, and that on or before the first day of May, 1894, all materials, supplies, stock and fixtures in the possession of the said Bureau, and all negatives, copyrights and rights in and to the photographs taken by the said Bureau, and reproductions thereoff, shall be sold, unless herafter otherwise agreed, and the receipts therefrom placed to the credit of the said Bureau of Photography as a portion of the gross receipts hereinabove named, and as soon as practicable after said sale a final settlement shall be had between the parties hereto."

GOT RICH OR MADE A LIVING...

Of course I don't know all the details of the financial outcome of Arnold's Photographic concession. If the absolute details of the final settlement exist somewhere I haven't found them.  There are bits and pieces, but I think you can assume that Arnold made money, but he didn't get wealthy by any means.

The contract is not complicated  - it states that all monies paid out by the Columbian Exposition Company to run the operation will be deducted from the net, which is when Arnold and Higinbotham will receive their 10%.. Its not exactly clear if both parties will get 10%, although thats possible .But if one got ten percent, then the other would be getting ten percent minus the other's 10%.  If both were to get ten% it would seem the Company would have said you get 20% (assuming that each would take 10% of that figure). So, I for one am not certain who got what and how much.

Arnold's and his partner's salary "at a rate of $2000 per annum" would seem to indicate that the salary was prorated for the time of the Exposition approximate running time -6 months. But it could have been longer since Arnold maintained an office in Chicago even into 1895.  There obviously was a lot of work to complete when the fair closed. Records put in order, final accounting, inventory, final print record for the Corporation, packing, distribution of records and negatives and prints, and on and on. But despite how much longer Arnold or his partner were going to be paid, the sum of $2000 prorated only amounted to $166.66 per month, not a great sum, and equivelent to mid-level managers in other departments of the corporation.  And you know that from the time of the contract signing a hugh task faced them which probably meant alot of 12 to 18 hour days, 7-days a week. A letter written to a friend notes that he is writting the letter at midnight since it was his first chance since dawn. Keep in mind,  many of buildings were not actually completed for months into the fair and Arnold was responsible for photo records of construction and completion. Plus the business of making materials available to the public for sale, albums, stereos, camera permits, photos of whatever for publications and on and on.  They had a very limited time to make the revenue upon which their percentage would be based. In the end it was reported that the Photography Department did not do as well as expected by the Corporation, generally because of poor placement of the photography building. But Arnold had little to do with that, the scrambling for space was a real nightmare for everything outside of the largest buildings.
According to Gibson letters the locations were changed fast and furiously, someone always bumping someone else for space, depending upon their importance as deemed by the various committees vying for good locations. Arnold's and Gibson's buildings were for all practical purposes hidden from sight unless one entered or left from the 62nd St. entrance/exit. I doubt if they asked to be hidden from sight, it was not their choice, and it suffered accordingly.
And if you take into account the net and gross aspects of the arrangement, you can sort of get a feel for how much would have been left at the end for the partners to get their 10% (or 20% if you accept that).  The cost of their building, all artifacts within, cameras, equipment & photo supplies; salaries (of up to more than 100 staff in late summer) water, electric, sewer, and the list is endless. Everything that cost the Corporation money in the operation was deductable from the gross. I suspect that was a considerable sum.

Of course the gross did include such items as the Stereo concession of Kilburn ($17,000) and Gibson'sPortrait business (which was not like Kilburns, Gibson's business was audited daily and his net added to the Arnold account. But Gibson's business was peanuts compared to most other concessions, his take at the end was something on the order of $6,000. Sale of goods (photos mainly) and passes, and fees for commercial photos at $5 ea., but all in all, I don't believe it was one of the larger money-making concessions - that ranking went to operators on the midway like the Ferris Wheel,some of the restaurants and other attractions which drew large paying crowds throughout the life of the fair.

FLORENCE HIGINBOTHAM ( 1871-1949 )
DAUGHTER OF FAIR PRESIDENT HARLOW N. HIGINBOTHAM
BECAME MRS RICHARD T. CRANE JR  (PLUMBING) 1904
PHOTO WAS IN POSSESSION OF C.D. ARNOLD,

HER BROTHER WAS ARNOLD'S PARTNER AT THE 1893 EXPO.
INSCRIBED "VERY SINCERELY , FLORENCE HIGINBOTHAM, FEB 2, 1895"
I THINK ARNOLD HAD AN EYE FOR THE LADIES.
LOOKS LIKE PORTRAIT BY SOCIETY PHOTOG M.J. STEFFENS
WHO HAD PHOTOGRAPHED HER & HER FATHER,
 HARLOW NILES IN EARLIER TIMES.
POSS OF THE AUTHOR, COURTESY DAVIS FAM. , BUFFALO
TO CONTACT AUTHOR GO HERE
TO RETURN TO OPENING PAGE GO HERE
TO SEE PAGE ENTITLED ARNOLD'S NEW YORK CITY WORK GO HERE TO READ ARTICLE BY W.I. LINCOLN ADAMS REGARDS ARNOLD' WORK GO HERE
use back button to return