Albert W. Barbelle

*Hello Hawaii, How Are You, 1915
*My Bird of Paradise, 1915
*I'm Down in Honolulu, 1916
*Since Maggie Dooley Learned the Hooley Hooley, 1916
*That Hula Hula, 1916
*Yaaka Hula Hickey Hula, 1916
*Yaddie Kaddie Kiddie Kaddie Koo, 1916
*Along the Way to Waikiki, 1917
*In My Dreams of Waikiki, 1917
*The More I See of Hawaii the Better I Like New York, 1917
*When Those Sweet Hawaiian Babies Roll Their Eyes, 1917
*It Must Have Been Some Wonderful Boy, 1918
*Jinga Bula Jing Jing, 1920
*Waiki-ki-ki Lou, 1920
*Jimbo Jambo, 1922
*Lo-La-Lo, 1922
*Moon of Waikiki, 1924
*One-Two-Three-Four, 1924
*Iyone My Own Iyone, 1926
*My Sweetheart Waltz, 1926
*Aloha Land, 1927
*Somewhere in Hawaii, 1928
*Blue Waters, 1929
*Sparkling Waters of Waikiki, 1929

Photo of Albert Barbelle from 1947.

Albert Barbelle at work, 1953.

Albert Wilfred Barbelle was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on Fabruary 15, 1887. According to the 1920 U.S. Census his father was also from Massachusetts, and his mother was French Canadian.

He formally studied fine and commercial art in Paris and London, and at the Art Student League in New York. His sheet music covers were produced over a span of almost four decades utilizing a variety of styles and techniques.

One interesting, yet little known aspect of his career, is that he was the illustrator for the very first Mickey Mouse book published in the United States. Walt Disney licensed the book to Bibo-Lang Inc., a sheet music publisher in New York City who Barbelle had worked with in the past. The book, entitled simply "The Mickey Mouse Book" was printed and distributed in 1930, and has become so collectible today that good copies fetch up to a thousand dollars or more. Barbelle's renderings of Mickey were superb.

The first Mickey Mouse book was illustrated  by Barbelle.

As a commercial artist, Albert designed a series of humorous African-American themed greeting cards which would probably be considered racist today. He also produced a number of chidrens puzzles with delightful illustrations of popular nursery rhymes on them. These cards and puzzles appear frequently on ebay.

Later in life he was heavily involved with the Staten Island Museum, teaching illustration classes, and also at one time serving as the president of the art section. His fine paintings were well received by the art community. He lived at 291 Alter Avenue, Donegan Hills, in Staten Island, but worked in a studio at West Forty-fifth Street in Manhattan.

He was married three times, his third wife was pianist and composer Paula Fuchs, who performed on radio in the twenties and thirties. He passed away on Sunday, February 3, 1957 in Bellevue Hospital after a two-month illness. Paula Barbelle passed away in Miami, Florida in July 1975. It doesn't appear that they had any children.

This painting by Barbelle recently appeared on ebay.