Uncle Sam

For other uses, see Uncle Sam (disambiguation)}}}.

J. M. Flagg's Uncle Sam recruited soldiers for World War I and World War II.

Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States dating from the War of 1812. Common folklore holds that his origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The soldiers jokingly referred to it as the initials of the meat supplier, Uncle Samuel Wilson, of Troy, New York. The 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution on September 15, 1961: "Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam." A monument marks his birthplace in Arlington, Massachusetts.

However, counter-arguments to this theory have been raised by some. One theory suggests that Uncle Sam was a creation by Irish immigrants to the US who used the Gaelic acronym, SAM, or Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá, which is the translation for United States of America, as a nickname for their new host country. Unfortunately, however, the precise origin of the term may never be proven.

Most earlier representative figures of the United States such as "Brother Jonathan" were overtaken by Uncle Sam somewhere around the time of the Civil War. The female personification "Columbia" has seldom been seen since the 1920s. Thomas Nast played an important role in creating the popular image of Uncle Sam in his post-Civil War era political cartoons. After the American Civil War, whiskers were added to Uncle Sam in reference to Abraham Lincoln. Today, with the possible exception of the Statue of Liberty, the character of Uncle Sam is probably the most easily recognizable personification of the U.S.

Contents

1 I Want '''YOU''' for the Army
2 Other media
3 See also
4 References

4.1 Popular works

5 External links

I Want YOU for the Army

During World War I a very famous poster inspired by a British recruitment poster depicted Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer with the words "I WANT YOU". The artist James Montgomery Flagg, who painted the poster in 1917, used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam.[link] Veteran Walter Botts posed for the drawing that became Uncle Sam. The poster was based on a 1914 recruitment poster from Britain featuring Lord Kitchener, which was designed by Alfred Leete.

The poster has been repeatedly imitated (and parodied), with many different variations on the simple slogan.

Image:Kitchener-Britons.jpg|"Lord Kitchener Wants You", the British poster mentioned above. Image:Red Army recruitment poster.jpg|Red Army recruitment poster, 1920s. "YOU, have you signed up for volunteers?" Image:Pnv02.jpg|PNV sticker, 1970s. Text: "Euzkadi´k bear zaitu" (Euzkadi needs you).

Other media

In addition to the appearance of Uncle Sam in politics, the character has also appeared as a comic book hero for both Charlton and DC Comics. He is presented as the living embodiment of the United States and is the leader of the Freedom Fighters. See Uncle Sam (comics). There was also a short cartoon in the 1980s called "Uncle Sam's Adventures."

Furthermore, Uncle Sam appeared as a horror villain in the eponymously titled 1997 film, Uncle Sam. In this film, several pseudo-patriotic elements are used, including Sam attacking people with "friendly fire" and eventually dying from two cannon blasts.

In music, the long-lived folk-rock group Grateful Dead featured a skeletal Uncle Sam as one of the band's symbols. Uncle Sam, referred to in their song United States Blues, is one of the many elements that compose the band's "American mythology".

Also, the logo of the New York Yankees ([see here]) features Uncle Sam's hat covering the barrel of a red baseball bat.

References

Popular works

Fenster, Bob (2003), They Did What!?, Andrews McMeel Publishing. (ISBN 0740737937)

External links

["The Most Famous Poster,"] U.S. Library of Congress
Historical [Uncle Sam Pictures]
[James Montgomery Flagg's 1917 "I Want You" Poster and other works] (Internet Archive copy from 2004 October 28)
[What's the origin of Uncle Sam?] The Straight Dope