By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
June 29, 2016

Historians aren’t completely certain how the legendary character Uncle Sam was created, or for whom (if anyone) he was named.

One prominent theory is that Uncle Sam was named after Samuel Wilson of Arlington, Mass. During the War of 1812, Wilson was in the business of slaughtering and packing meat. He provided large shipments of meat to the U.S. Army in barrels stamped with the initials “U.S.” According to lore, someone who saw the “U.S.” stamp suggested — perhaps as a joke — that the initials stood for “Uncle Sam” Wilson. The suggestion that the meat shipments came from “Uncle Sam” led to the idea that Uncle Sam symbolized the federal government.

Uncle Sam’s traditional appearance, with a white goatee and star-spangled suit, is an invention of artists and political cartoonists. Wilson, who was clean-shaven, did not look like our modern image of Uncle Sam. The single most famous portrait of Uncle Sam is the “I WANT YOU” Army recruiting poster from World War I. James Montgomery Flagg painted the poster circa 1916-1917.

This card was given to Mr. R. J. Julien of Amsterdam, Mo. during the early 1900s. No postal cancellation is present on the card.