Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:06PM3 comments ›
Sun Sep 13, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy birthday, Uncle Sam!
On this day in 1766, Samuel Wilson was born. At the time of the War of 1812, he was a prosperous middle-aged meat-packer in Troy. He
obtained a contract to supply beef to the Army in its campaign further
north, which he shipped in barrels. The barrels, being government
property, were branded with the initials "U.S.", but the soldiers would joke that the initials referred to "Uncle Sam", who
supplied the product. Over time, it is believed, anything marked with
the same initials (as much Army property was) also became linked with
his name.
Later on, he'd become known for the most famous poster in the world, and became a comic book character, first for Quality Comics, then later for DC as the leader of the Freedom Fighters and as the star of a miniseries by Alex Ross.
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Comments (3)
Warren (9:00 PM on Sun Sep 13, 2009)
Not historically true. The image we know as Uncle Sam came from the then derisive image of Brother Jonathan, the country bumpkin kin to the"great "John Bull" image of England. Thomas Nast put the finishing touches on the image, making it one of pride as opposed to derision, Sam Wilson had little if anything to do with the symbolic character. And as to the WW1 poster "Uncle Sam Wants You for thebUnited States Army" By the great James Montgomery Flagg, well, he stole the image from a British recruiting poster showing Lord Kitchener admonishing the same to British men to join their Army.
Glenn Hauman (12:21 AM on Mon Sep 14, 2009)
You are correct about the creation of the image, but the man who was first dubbed Uncle Sam was Samuel Wilson. Wilson didn't look anything like him, though.
Karol Wilson (5:53 AM on Mon Sep 14, 2009)
Uncle Sam's poster is quite funny. I found its comic book as the leader of the Freedom Fighters quite humorous.
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