Uncle Sam Sells
Uncle Sam -- darling of US Army recruitment posters and oft-charicatured symbol of government in political cartoons -- can be visited on your next vacation. On a poster at the US Army Chemical Corps Museum, he wears a gas mask, while next to him a zombie-faced Kaiser crashes to the ground.
Some Uncle Sams are employed in the straightforward recruitment of consumer confidence, standing tall over auto dealerships and shopping centers. The Uncle Sam in Virginia, Minnesota, is in the High Trail Motors parking lot below the road banking on US 53 south of town, so it loses some impact. Both Danbury, Connecticut, and Ottawa Lake, Michigan, have 38-foot-tall Uncle Sams that were originally built to sell hamburgers in Ohio.
In contrast to the identical appearance of mass produced cowboys, Indians and Muffler Men, the Uncle Sams we've seen are often varied, one-of-a-kind (or the last of a limited local chain).
Many people don't know that Uncle Sam was an actual guy. His real name was Samuel Wilson, born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 13, 1766, but spent most of his life in Troy, NY. He was a meatpacker during the War of 1812 and the supposed inspiration for the Uncle Sam character. He died in 1854.
Troy calls itself the "Home of Uncle Sam," memorialized by a statue at River and 3rd Streets downtown. His grave in Oakwood Cemetery, north of Troy, is diligently maintained by the local Boy Scout council, who raise the American flag over it each day.
Other Sams:
- Danbury, Connecticut: World's Tallest Uncle Sam
- Vincennes, Indiana: Uncle Sam
- Ottawa Lake, Michigan: World's Tallest Uncle Sam
- Virginia, Minnesota: Uncle Sam
- Hatch, New Mexico: Uncle Sam