C.O.C.A. Times

Uncle Sam in Machine Art
By Rick Crandall July, 2014
[A more extensive article can be found at http://www.ric kcrandall.net/artic1e72.php
Uncle Sam means the U.S. and ever since the War of 1812 the personification of the United States as an
individual became increasingly popular and eventually iconic. According to historical accounts, Uncle
Sam came into use during the War of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson, a meat
packer who supplied meat to the army during that war.
The visual of Uncle Sam began appearing in political
cartoons, often derisively at first, up through the Civil War, in
which he was portrayed in everything from pajamas to
eveningwear. He was young, old, fat and thin . At one point he
was even a tantrum-throwing toddler. Finally when Abraham
Lincoln was President, the Union became associated with the
image of a tall, lanky man with a beard - an image that
transferred, and stuck, to Uncle Sam forever after as can be
seen in cartoon depictions.
Fig. 1: 1896 Campaign Button Uncle
Sam after the Spanish American War.
It is said that Uncle Sam
didn't get a standard
Tu,: ;s \Tio, H CW1S l h- l:S
l'IIOTOflU \PIH~
Le slie·s
.... ""
appearance until the well-
'
'
I"
known "recruitment" image
of Uncle Sam was created by
James Montgomery Flagg.
Many historical accounts
assert that it was this image
more than any other that set
the appearance of Uncle Sam
as the elderly man with white
hair and a goatee wearing a
white top hat with white stars
on a blue band, a blue tail
coat and red and white
striped trousers.
NEAREST RECRUITING STATION
l
11' \ .YI'
\ Ot
Fig. 2: The poster image of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the
first time in a picture by Flagg on the cover of the magazine Leslie's
Weekly, on July 6, 1916 and again on the cover of the Feb 15, 1917
issue shown above left. More than four million copies of this image
were printed between 1917 and 1918. Flagg used his own face for
Uncle Sam, and Army veteran Walter Botts provided the pose.
Yet when several early
entertainment
manufacturers decided to
capture Uncle Sam's image in machine art much earlier than the 1916 Flagg image in Leslie's Weekly,
they were not far off from Flagg's concept, at least as to the outfit and hair.
4