Was there really Uncle Sam?

Initially, as a symbol, people used a sign with a secret meaning that only a certain group of people could understand. Symbolic forms are formed from two elements: from the image and meaning. Sometimes jokes, and sometimes quite serious images, figures, sculptures, objects that have a definite or implicit meaning, are in separate groups, united by some kind of interest or secret, from peoples and countries.

Who was the prototype of the American Uncle Sam

Since the middle of the last century, the so-called government of the United States, the country itself and state structures related to intelligence, state security, the army, justice. It happened by itself. For many years this phrase was identified with private entrepreneurship and business.

It is commonly believed that Uncle Sam is a joke interpretation of the acronym USA. Where did this error come from , which became a symbol?

For the first time this expression was used in an American newspaper in September 1813 in an angry, exposing government article. A character with that name (Samuel, or Sam Wilson) actually existed. During the war with England, the successful owner of the slaughterhouse and part-time merchant dealt with the supply of large quantities of provisions for the US Army. On the barrels with salted meat, through the stencil, large US letters were printed, meaning that the cargo belongs to the state government. On a large military base in the city of Troy, located near the front line, several dozen barrels of these marks were brought daily.

Error came out

One day one of the watchmen of Irish origin began to prove to the soldiers near him that these letters are directly related to the supplier, Uncle (Mr.) Sam. Soldiers gladly joked about this Irishman. Every day, when the next batch of meat arrived, jokes began again and again. It was exactly the same word that was introduced by the journalists.

Later, the common name was transferred to all products from the United States. There is even a holiday called Uncle Sam's Day, which Americans celebrate in March, the 13th, on the real date of birth of a popular man who became the prototype of the famous symbol.

When he was painted for the first time

The first picture - a newspaper caricature depicting Uncle Sam - was published in 1852. He depicted a lean gray-haired old man with sideburns and a beard, with a tall cylinder on his head. His clothes, painted in the colors of the American flag - a blue coat, striped trousers - were added later. Thanks to the fantasy and fiction of artists, in different years in their own way changing the image of a gracious but exacting grandfather, the whole world imagines that this was exactly what Uncle Sam looked like. A photo depicting a real person may differ from the image invented by the draftsmen.

The real Sam Wilson, judging from the surviving descriptions of his appearance, had a short stature and a rather round fat figure.

Who drew it

The very first "Uncle Sam" was painted by the artist F. G. Bella. The resemblance to the original, the real Mr. Wilson, was completely absent. The portrait, created several decades later by DM Flegg on the famous agitation poster, has the face of the artist himself. It was in this image that Uncle Sam first put on a high hat-cylinder and a blue coat.

Today, the famous image is presented in the form of souvenirs, images, large and small figures. He is present in serious and not very plots, in caricatures with a kind and mocking meanings. The whole world recognizes a gray-haired old man with whiskers, and it does not matter whether the image of the symbol is similar to the original, or not.

Lady Liberty

Another well-known American symbol is the Statue of Liberty, established on the island of Bedlaw (now the island of Liberty) in 1886 on the approach from the sea to New York. A huge, unassembled structure was delivered by steamer from France along the sea route.

The female figure created by Frederick Bartholdy is 46 m high. Together with the pedestal and the pedestal inside which the museum is located, the height of the sculpture is 93 m. The inner frame, on which the copper sheets of the statue are attached, was designed by Gustave Eiffel. It is noteworthy that the figure is made of Russian copper, and the pedestal is made of German cement.

Under the terms of the treaty, signed by President Ulysses Grant in 1877, the United States agreed to accept the Statue of Liberty sculpture as a gift to the 100th anniversary of Independence. The base was built on the donations of American citizens. For the sculpture itself, the funds were collected in France. The gift was late for the scheduled anniversary for 10 years. Despite this annoying fact, a grandiose celebration was held with a parade in honor of the installation of the long-awaited sculpture on a hexagonal pedestal.

Since then, for almost 130 years, Uncle Sam, in the form of the Goddess of Freedom, has welcomed the guests of the country with a high-lifted torch in her hands.