USBS: Uncle Sam Has Been Around Longer Than You Think

You are listening to another bonus episode, our third one, and as y'all should know, by now, this isn't your typical one nation under crime. This is USBs where we discuss the historical BS of the U S. These are episodes that cover a wide variety of historical topics could be a person and event either way. We promise that we will still try to have a good time and learn something along the way, but is anything we do ever typical? No, absolutely not. So I'm Kayla and I'm Leah, and let's get into it again. List for this week after this, we only have two more of our bonus episodes, so well, they can go over to Patrion on and they'll be able to find us there. 

0  

00:00:49

So it's true. So don't, they want more of us each week. Our sources for this week, we have britannica.com. We have history.com, legends of America, which is a very good website and mental floss, which is also a good website as well. That has a lot of good, long, long articles. I was going to say, I've read articles from law long. So this week, the BS that we are getting into is literally the U S O not the U S is in the United States, a U S as in uncle Sam. 

0  

00:01:31

Oh, you know him, you love him. You might not love him. He's the one with the white top hat, blue jacket, red Ascot, white hair and beard. And he's like pointing at you, kinda like your grandma did, like when you were in big trouble, if that doesn't sound familiar, then just think of like a thin patriotic Santa that looks at you. Like your mom does when she got home and you didn't take the chicken out of the freezer. When she told Shanna ha that look, that we all know that we all know with Southern mothers, we all know that we know it. And then she pulls in the driveway and you quickly go to throw it in the same, like that's going to help. 

0  

00:02:14

So he's a cross between Abraham Lincoln and a patriotic Colonel Sanders. Yes, that's what I would say. My dad was him and my little Mayberry town has a patriotic parade. They do a year and my dad was uncle Sam in the parade. One year, I can see that. Well, he made it to the paper. You can tell them all about this. The lore of uncle Sam goes back a lot farther than some people may think today. When a lot of people think of old Sam, they think of the poster saying, I want you for the us army during the term is more throughout the years. And for a lot of Americans, uncle Sam refers to the government such as when country legend my idol, Toby Keith. 

0  

00:03:05

Absolutely not. So you take that name out of your mouth when referring to this person. Absolutely not. And possibly one of the kindest people on the planet. Oh, Garth Brooks, Garth Brooks. He says in one of his songs, if uncle Sam dips in your pocket, for most things, you don't mind. So a lot of people think of uncle Sam is actually the government itself. So if you had to guess, how far back do you think the depiction of uncle Sam goes, if you had to put a year on it. So we all know around world war one, we've all seen it. 

0  

00:03:47

So how far before that, do you think if you had to put a year, what year would you say uncle Sam came to be whale? Obviously, world war one, which was spout early 19 hundreds. So it was before that. So I'll say, I'll say 18 50, 18, 12, the figure of uncle Sam dates as far back as the war of 1812. Nice. Now there is a main story for the origin of him that is most widely accepted, but as always, there are some historians who disagree and have other theories. Yeah. That happens. 

0  

00:04:27

I'll touch on some of the differences. You know, that historians have pointed out, but we're going to go with the most widely accepted story and the story with the most information, because that's what we're here for. There you go. The official birth date for the person, uncle Sam is September 7th, 1766, almost my birthday, which makes him a Virgo, likely a, here you go. What was the year get? I got excited. 1766. So before the American revolution, not far before, but the inspiration came from a man named Samuel Wilson. Sam was born in Massachusetts and served in the American revolution when he was only 15, when the war ended, Sam and his brother Ebeneezer. 

0  

00:05:16

Nice, nice. Right. Settled in Troy New York and opened a meat packing facility named E and S Wilson. Sam was described as a man of great fairness, reliability, and honesty, who was loyal to his country. Local started to call him uncle Sam during the war of 1812, the soldiers were in great need of supplies. And most importantly, food William Eustace was the secretary of war at the time. And he made a contract with another man, Albert Anderson, Jr. In New York city to supply an issue. All of the rations necessary for the war of 1812. 

0  

00:06:00

He ran an advertisement in the paper, looking for vendors to fill them well, ENS Wilson bid on the contract and they won. They had to fill an order of 2000 barrels of pork and 3000 barrels of beef total for a year. Their company was right on the Hudson river and it made it extremely easy for them to ship their products out. Right? The meat would be packed in wooden barrels and stamped with us for the United States. Like I said before, Sam was highly regarded by the locals and he had the respect of the soldiers as well. So while the barrels were required to have the U S stamped on them, a joke started with the locals that us actually stood for uncle Sam. 

0  

00:06:49

I can say that meanwhile, several of the soldiers that the meat was being delivered to were also from Troy and knew of Sam's nickname and started referring to the barrels as uncle Sam's meat. However, oh, this isn't the only patriotic symbol that the United States has had up until this time. And which is even funnier because when you think of uncle Sam's meat, like now what we know uncle Sam to be there saying it's government meat, which it is, it makes it even funnier. 

1  

00:07:27

Say my great-grandfather, he would get the government cheese and the gold block of that yellow government cheese man. I used to love that stuff 

0  

00:07:37

In other podcasts, a lot of people listen to true crime, true crime. Well, they have true crime obsessed and obsessed with disappeared, but on the obsessed with disappeared podcast with Patrick and Ellen, Patrick grew up extremely poor, very, very, very poor. And they, he grew up in Massachusetts. And so he'll always say something about like government cheese, like growing up with government cheese, that stuff, he, it was really funny. So anyway, that always just cracks me up thinking of government cheese, every time I think about it. So just interesting. And then also what was funny is that a lot of the workers at the meat packing factory were also like they would bolster kind of like joke around with Samuel and like intentionally call him uncle Sam at like, just to be like facetious, just to like make fun of him. 

0  

00:08:33

Like we make, 

1  

00:08:34

We make fun of our balls. 

0  

00:08:35

Fabio, he's a legend in his own mind. And so we like, they would always do that to him as like a joke. And then it just stuck stuck. That's great. So like I said, this is not the only patriotic symbol of the United States had up until this time earlier, personifications include a woman named Columbia who first appeared in 1738, which is of course pre Aus. But this is when the colonies were sometimes she's associated with another personification of lady Liberty. However, lady Liberty is actually labeled as Colombia's sister. 

0  

00:09:20

Columbia was derived from Roman imagery and the name came from Christopher Columbus. She appeared in artwork architecture and during the 18th and 19th centuries as a warrior and a guardian, Ooh, the district of Columbia actually comes from her brother. Jonathan was another figure during the American revolution that was associated with new England, miss Columbia would be depicted with either brother Jonathan or uncle Sam for quite a while as a personification of the nation. But the image of miss Colombia was abandoned by the nation when she became the symbol for Columbia pictures in the 1920s. 

0  

00:10:06

Oh man. So yeah, as soon as Columbia pictures did that, the us goes, Nope, well I'm rid of her. And so they did that sad. I would think that you wouldn't be able to do that as company, honestly, like I'm kind of surprised that they were able to do that because now they wouldn't, you wouldn't be able to, but right, there was an article in the Lutheran witness newspaper that said quote, when we meet him in politics, we call him uncle Sam. When we meet him in society, we call him brother Jonathan here. As of late uncle Sam alias, brother, Jonathan has been doing a powerful lot of complaining, hardly doing anything else. 

0  

00:10:48

Ooh. A midshipman in the us Navy named Isaac Mayo. Weird. We've talked about Isaac recently. And in our last USBs we talked about Manet's weird how it all ties back. Anyways, he wrote in his journal quote, Wade anchors stood down the Harbor past Sandy hook where there are two lighthouses and put to see first and the second day out of most deadly seasick. Oh, could I have gone on shore to the height of it? I swear that uncle Sam, as they call him, would certainly forever have lost the services of at least one soldier. Yeah. 

0  

00:11:29

So the journal entry that was done by the midshipman was actually like during the 1760s to keep in mind, uncle Sam is, that's why a lot of historians say that uncle Sam had to have come before because of things like this. But the official date is not until 18, 12. Gotcha. So who knows, brother, Jonathan and uncle Sam were used interchangeably to represent the U S by American cartoonists from the early 1830s to 1861. 

0  

00:12:10

Then in the 1860s, 1870s, political cartoonist Thomas Nast started to push the image of uncle Sam Moore. And he built onto the original depictions of uncle Sam. Originally, Sam didn't have the white beard or the star and Stripe suit. The character is known to obviously wear that today. That's how, that's what we know. Uncle Sam, as the cartoonist was known originally for his cartoons of Abraham Lincoln. So it's no surprise that the images of uncle Sam were heavily influenced by Lincoln. NASA was born in Germany and he is also like you to take a guess at what other famous figure Nast is known to have put into a visual medium for the world. 

0  

00:12:59

Hitler. No, I don't know Santa Claus. And he is the one that came up with the modern day image of Santa Claus. He also said Germany. Well, I mean, yeah, but a cartoon. Well, he also contributed even further to politics today in the U S and he assigned the image of the donkey to the democratic party and the elephant to the Republican party. What was his reasoning? There's a lot that goes into that. We don't have time to get into. I will say that the donkey was not always called a donkey <em></em> and elephants are known to be stubborn as well. 

0  

00:13:42

That also has a lot to do with it. There's a lot. Yeah. I mean, another, I went to go look into it and I went, oh, no time for this. The most famous image that we know of uncle Sam today was created by artists, James Montgomery. Flagg this is the version and known to be on posters, asking people to join the war efforts. This popular image was first used in July of 1916 on the cover of the magazine Leslie's weekly illustration was accompanied by the title quote, what are you doing for preparedness flag made 46 different world war, one recruiting posters using the likeness of uncle Sam. 

0  

00:14:29

Cool. So that is why everybody knows it as well as they do, because that was when all of it kind of started in the height of it group. The name uncle Sam has also become associated with other American figures, such as union leader and 18th president Ulysses grant Grant's original name at birth was Hiram. And we've talked about this before he was Hiram Ulysses, but when he was nominated to attend west point as a teenager, his sponsor wrote his name in correctly. Instead of Hiram Ulysses grant, it was written as Ulysses S grant it's rumor that he went by Ulysses and not as first name. 

0  

00:15:15

So when the sponsor wrote his name, he used S as his middle name because you lyses mother's maiden name was Simpson. Ah, and as we've seen during our episodes, typically the son's name used it's. His middle name is his mother's maiden name. And then last name, obviously it was father's last name. So we've seen it in all of our episodes that happens caught. So it wasn't common that he had a first and actual middle name and he went by his middle name. His classmates decided that the S must've stood for Sam as an uncle Sam, and that became his nickname. 

0  

00:15:55

The name Samuel Wilson will also be solidified in history today. And another way of deer in Marvel comic history, the first black superhero in Marvel comics, the Falcon is named Samuel Wilson and never even realized that it might be a coincidence, or it might not be, but this is not a spoiler. If you don't already know the spinal. And I don't feel like I said, it could be a coincidence or it might not be, but in the print comics, Sam Wilson is currently captain America. So now captain America is uncle Sam, AKA, Samuel Wilson. 

0  

00:16:37

That's awesome. Nobody knows if that's intentional or not. That's pretty good. It's pretty interesting. It makes me like, happy to think that it would be, I know it, I mean, you know, this, it would make sense, but it's also like, was it just like how, like, you've gotta be real clever to come up with that. Like, because the Falcon was a good, like print series in and of itself. It branched into capita, which we know like the Marvel cinematic universe and all of that, but yeah. So to think what a cool, yeah. Captain America is Sam Wilson. Yeah. That, that makes me happy. I know it was intentional. I really liked it. I thought when I was like, it was another moment where I was like, oh my gosh. 

0  

00:17:21

And to think that not a lot of people realize that Sam Wilson is uncle Sam. Right. Right. Same person. Yeah. That's awesome. So now you can say that the new depiction of uncle Sam is captain America, which I'm totally fine with. Yeah. I mean, yeah, this is a different Sam, but I'm saying yeah. Original captain America movie. Yes, man. He is attractive. I've loved that movie sat during one of my favorite time periods. Yep. Such a good movie. It is a good movie. He is gorgeous. 

0  

00:18:02

Oh my God. Doesn't hurt. No, not at all. He used so handsome. It's fine. I'm just saying anyways, very attractive. Very charged. Do you need a moment? I am. Okay. Okay. I'm okay. And he's not the only Chris in the series either. Correct? Chris Hemsworth, which I do like Chris Hemsworth. He's he's not so bad to look at either. It just depends on what you're looking for, 

1  

00:18:31

But I will tell you my, my favorite Marvel character is 

0  

00:18:38

Everybody's has to be Tony stark. Stark is hilarious. 

1  

00:18:44

Yeah. A lot of people failure just because of the snarkiness. I just, I just, I love him. 

0  

00:18:51

Yeah. I like Tony stark a lot. I do. I will say though, as far as movies go, the captain America like series of movies, just the captain America movies in itself are much better. They are good. Okay. 

1  

00:19:07

I mean 11, when, when Thor, when you know he has to go battle and it's the whole his, 

0  

00:19:13

I know. Oh yeah. It's so funny. I mean, it's, it's great. The 

1  

00:19:20

Marvel, just all, all the Marvel movies are just, 

0  

00:19:23

They're good. They're all my boyfriend has never watched Marvel movies and does not want to, it. Doesn't like 

1  

00:19:29

Them, all these movies he's making you watch and watch 

0  

00:19:32

Them. And I know he saw an ad. This is not a spoiler for anyone. This will come out a few weeks ahead of now, but, and I haven't seen it, so I can't spoil anything, but my boyfriend took his son to go see Ghostbusters and loved it. And he's a big Ghostbusters fan. My boyfriend has original Ghostbusters jobs, Ghostbusters. And there was the whole thing of like, they, the original Ghostbusters, weren't going to come back for another one because the director wasn't going to be doing it anymore. And it was like out of respect for him and all this other stuff. 

1  

00:20:11

And the, oh, what's his name. 

0  

00:20:13

Yeah. And then, and now Paul Rudd is in this new one. And my, my boyfriend was like, he took his son as soon as it, like, as soon as it came out, he took him to see it. And they actually saw it again when they went back, when he went back home. And so he was very, very impressed by the new Ghostbusters. He said, it was funny. He said there were a couple of parts that were scarier than what he thought for his son. He, his son is younger. Right. He said that they were kind of like, there were a couple times where there was like a jump scare or two, but he said not in like a bad way, but he said, you know, and it's one of those things. 

0  

00:20:54

You see a movie the first time and you're like, oh my gosh, it was so good. Then you go see it a second time and you pick up so much more. Right. And so after he saw it again, I was like, was it worth seeing it again? And he was like, it was so worth it. And, and we were, even this morning, we went to the grocery store and we were coming back and I don't know what brought it up, but he said something about the movie again. And he was like, God, it was such a good sunglasses. Not like a big, he likes to watch movies, but very particular on, on movies, especially if it's like a sequel or, you know yeah. Especially tied to Ghostbusters, right? Like it's either going to be really great or it's going to be horrible. 

0  

00:21:36

This is, should not be a hot take. But the all-female Ghostbusters was not good. It was not, it w it was not busters. It was not, there were funny parts if they wasn't Ghostbuster, if they would've done a few key changes to not make it Ghostbusters, but Ghostbusters adjacent, I think it could have been better. Yes. But I think, like, I think if they made a movie where they just like made a reference to Ghostbusters, I think it would have been much better, but the movie of itself wasn't one green. So I was really glad to hear that this, like, Ghostbusters was everything like it was made up to be. 

0  

00:22:21

And he did tell me a lot of things. Cause he was like, I don't want to spoil anything for you. And I was like, it's going to be wild until I see it. So it doesn't matter. Like, and he did tell me a few things about it that I was very, very pleased to hear that. And that were callbacks. And for those of you who don't know, Dan Akroyd, huge spiritualist, massive. Like his grandfather was a spiritualist who did like say ANSYS and like, like big, big, big, even today, huge into it. Like they have a whole, the whole family is like really into ghosts and to all of that stuff. 

0  

00:23:05

And so it was really when I found that out, I found that even cooler that he was then in Ghostbusters himself. So, because this was like a generational thing back years and years and years it's been passed down through like all of the family that this is like something they do, this is something like they believe in and everything like that. So I just found it really cool that he then like, as an adult, got to play a Ghostbuster when he was so into that all of his life and still is so really interesting. Go see it. Apparently, if you haven't, I can't say for sure, but I can tell you what I heard word on the street word on the street is, and the only reason FYI, some people are going to be like, how did you get to ghost busters? 

0  

00:23:46

Paul Rudd, Marvel. That's how I got there. Ant man. They're good. Well, and also Paul Rudd. Oh, he's so attractive. How does he get younger? Every year? He has an a, he has a deal with the devil. I'm convinced. That's what Ryan Reynolds told Jimmy Fallon that they were talking about how Paul and he said, he goes, I got to figure out what he's doing is that deal with the devil or I was just want to know how I can get in on that. And Phoebe married and friends. I know, but still Paul Rudd so attractive. So handsome. So funny. So funny, Sam Wilson, okay. 

0  

00:24:29

To baffle Sam in September of 1961 by recent, I was not alive. No, the us Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as quote the progenator of America's national symbol of uncle Sam Wilson died at the age of 88. Wow. In 1854 and was buried next to his wife, Betsy man, and the Oakwood cemetery in Troy, New York, the town calls itself, the home of uncle Sam. I love it. There are two memorials to uncle Sam, both of which commemorate the life of Samuel Wilson, the person not uncle Sam, the figure the uncle Sam Memorial statue in Arlington, Massachusetts, which is his birth place and a Memorial near his long-term residents in river riverfront park, Troy New York Wilson's boyhood home can still be visited in Mason, New Hampshire. 

0  

00:25:33

The following is from the mental floss article in July of 2015. And there was just so much here. I couldn't, they had the best information that I could find on it. And so this is directly, directly from them. Just copy and paste. It's all I could do for it. In July of 2015, the genealogy website, my heritage confirmed that one family in Arkansas is in fact directly descended from Samuel Wilson of Troy New York. Helen painter told ABC news that my heritage wasn't revealing anything new to them. Quote, my grandmother was the daughter of Carlton, Sheldon, who was Marian Wilson's son. 

0  

00:26:17

And she was the granddaughter of Samuel grainy always kept us very informed. Painter's eldest son has served in the Navy for more than 20 years while she is a nurse. Cool. She made a point of linking Wilson spirit of service to her families today, whether it's an icon or the person who did more menial jobs that never got that much recognition. There are a lot of wonderful people who have done a lot of wonderful things. Hopefully we can continue to do great things to take care of each other, whether it's handing out meat or band-aids or handing out a smile or a pat on the back, I was like, that's so sweet that she was just so just, and which is true because through their whole family, there's always been like, they've always done service for other people, which I just found. 

0  

00:27:07

I always find really cool how families go through, like everyone in the family, like, oh, my grandmother was a nurse than my mom was than I was. And then like, for them, for her to be like, well, yeah, I'm a nurse. And my son has been in the Navy for 20 years. Just like stuff like that. Always. It always just follows through. So always interesting. Well, we have three generations, 

1  

00:27:29

Patients of service, my family, you know, my pop was in the army. My dad was in the Navy and my brother is currently in the Navy, 

0  

00:27:36

You know, and that's how my dad's side of the family was. My dad was air force. So in a lot of them were all in the service. So it was very interesting, but yeah, it's very cool. It's very cool. And the last part in 1989, I was alive. Then I was not in quote, uncle Sam day became official a congressional joint resolution designated September 13th, 1989 as uncle Sam day, which was the birthdate of Samuel Wilson. Very cool. And that's the story of uncle Sam and how he came to be. 

0  

00:28:18

I love it. I always thought that was really, it was just one of those things that I was like looking at. Cause I like to look up kind of like what happened during what time period. Right. And uncle Sam popped up and I was like, he's not during this time period. And then I was like, oh wait. He is like, we're way past uncle Sam at this point where we are, cause we're in like 1830s. So it was really interesting. And I did think that it was really the reason that I liked the middle false article a lot is because they did talk about how they did, you know, ABC news actually found their family and did an interview with them, which was really cool. And for her to say like, they didn't tell us anything new. Like we already knew we were related to him. Like we're aware of our, family's told us this for forever. 

0  

00:29:03

So that's always really fun to hear. And I liked that. So that's the story of him. I love it. Even still today, people know who he is and people still refer to the government as uncle Sam, even like the news, they always refer to the government as uncle Sam. So it's always really interesting. And yes, I'm well aware of, of the Toby Keith song people. It's just that Garth Brooks is a worldwide icon. It's fine. You prefer him. I love Garth Brooks, which a lot of people on here probably don't know. I did an internship with a radio station and spoke with Garth Brooks and he is lovely. 

0  

00:29:46

Everything you see about him is who he is. I will say that he's very, I've been to multiple Garth Brooks concerts. I have a problem. My daughter at my daughter has become a basic white girl because now her favorite song is friends in low places. And I'm like, you know what? You know what? I am just preparing you for college karaoke. That's it. Can I tell you paired you? My nephew, my five-year-old nephew. He loves rodeo. Like, I mean, he will get that. And buddy, he will break. It's a good down song. 

0  

00:30:27

And he gets at Twain going is great. I love like, that's just one. My boyfriend's not at all like a country music person. And so I'll go with you to Gar. He will. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Garth is one of the few that he's like, oh no, I like Garth Brooks. And I'm like, who doesn't play? Find me someone. And I'll tell you they're wrong because he's just amazing. And let me tell you, man, maybe in his late fifties, he can get across a state and he is not in shape. And I mean, that's not saying anything mean about him. He never really has been, but I saw two of his concerts in his most recent like last world tour. 

0  

00:31:14

I was, I was tired watching him. And I'm like, how do you do that? Like how do you do that anyways? Such a great guy, such an interesting story of Garth Brooks, maybe look who knows. We get far enough into this podcast. Maybe one episode for USBs will be about Garth Brooks, the life of Garth Brooks. Maybe, maybe he'll become a fan. And he's, and that's what I'm putting into the universe. He and Tricia, because I'm a Trisha fan. She's miss Yearwood to Garth Brooks, FYI. If you've never listened to an interview of them, she, he never, ever, ever refers to her as Trisha. 

0  

00:31:57

He always calls her miss Yearwood. And I just think it's the, the weirdest and cutest thing, because like they're married, but she grew like she grew her. Yeah. Thing is Trisha Yearwood. So I always find it so funny that he always even on stage when, because she was a part of this work, he would call her miss Yearwood. Nick Saban refers to his wife as Ms. Harry. Yeah. I mean always calls her Ms. Terry, I'm putting it out into the universe. Garth Brooks listens to our podcast and so is miss miss Yearwood. She's beautiful. Always has been definitely voices, both lovely, lovely people. 

0  

00:32:40

Anyways. Great captain America and Garth Brooks. It's fine. Just cross over between the two. I'm just going to go ahead and say captain America's fan of the podcast here. Why wouldn't he be? So anyways, we have a website and you can find any and all information on NAR, not Garth Brooks, but Owen USI, which we know you're looking for. If you search for Garth Brooks, you will not find Owen UC yet. Yet. One day, one day, it will be there it is one nation. Hey, it's there. One nation under crime.com is the website. 

0  

00:33:21

We are one nation under crime on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and at Owen, UC pod on Twitter, go leave us a five-star review on apple podcasts and leave a comment for us. It counts more when you leave a comment. So we would greatly appreciate it. If you do that, we do have a Patrion, which these episodes are going to be moving over to Patrion starting in 2022. So if you want to be on the inside track of getting those episodes, go to our Patrion, become a member. There are different levels of membership that you can do, and we would love it. And you get our undying love, which that is priceless. In my opinion, I was going to say price it's priceless. 

0  

00:34:01

You know, you never know facts are facts. You will have two more bonus episodes, which means we're two weeks out from the end of 2020. So thank you for listening to the third bonus episode of USBs. We will see you here with more BS from the us. Always remember, even if uncle Sam told you there still isn't Liberty and justice for all, unfortunately we will see all for our normal episode and another bonus next week. 

0  

00:34:40

Goodbye.