Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haifi Elmer Hader a Pajaro, California, amma ya ciyar da yawancin matasansa a San Francisco. A lokacin da yake dan shekara 16, a matsayin dan kungiyar tsaro ta kasa, ya taimaka wajen dawo da tsari a San Francisco bayan da
Girgizar ƙasa a shekara ta 1906. Ya yi aiki na ɗan gajeren lokaci a cikin ƙungiyar binciken har zuwa Kogin Amurka (kusa da Sacramento, California), sannan ya koma San Francisco don yin aiki a matsayin mai kashe gobara a kan Railroad Belt Railroad (wani tashar jirgin ruwa da ke aiki a matsayin jirgin ruwa don kaya da mutane), inda mahaifinsa ya yi aiki a matsayin injiniya. Elmer yayi amfani da kudaden da ya samu daga wannan aikin don biyan bashin lokacinsa na farko a California School of Design. Daga nan ya sami tallafin karatu don gamawa a makarantar (1907<unk>1910). Elmer ya kuma shiga cikin wasan kwaikwayo, kuma ƙungiyoyi biyu na wasan kwaikwayo sun tallafa masa, gami da lokacinsa a Paris a Académie Julian daga 1912-1914. Ya yi nasara sosai a ayyukan vaudeville a Faransa da Amurka (a kan hanyar Pantages), wanda zai yi aikin "Painting a Minute" kuma, daga baya, aikin mutum-mutumi mai rai (wanda aka sanya mutane su zama mutum-mutumi), cewa ya yi la'akari da barin burinsa na dogon lokaci na zama mai zane. Bai yi hakan ba. Ya koma San Francisco, ya kafa ɗakin karatu a cikin gidan iyayensa, ya zana, ya koyar da zane-zane, kuma ya shirya nune-nunen. Elmer shine mai zane na farko da aka nuna a cikin mutum daya wanda yake nunawa a Fadar Fine Arts. An tattara shi a cikin Sojojin Amurka kuma ya koma Faransa a 1918 a matsayin memba na Camouflage Corps, a daidai lokacin da Ms. Beatty ta nemi Berta ta zo New York don yin aiki a zane-zane na zane-zane a "McCalls".