It is a common misconception that fans first discovered Carl Barks as a Disney duck artist in the late 1950's, because his name in that particular field was in fact disclosed many years before. The proof is presented here! It is a newspaper article from his local region in the San Jacinto Valley area in California. The name of the newspaper is The Hemet News and the article is dated April 6, 1951! At the time Carl and his wife Garé were a fairly well known couple in the San Jacinto society mostly due to Garé's paintings, but not even the neighbours knew that her husband was writing and drawing numerous Disney duck stories. That all changed with this article, that even was on the front page!
So enjoy the positive article rendered in full below (although the journalist made a few minor, factual mistakes), which is the very first interview Barks ever made about his beloved ducks...