How Did the Name Uncle Sam Originate?
The name Uncle Sam is a jocular name long in use for the Government of the United States.
Shortly after the war of 1812 was declared, Elbert Anderson of New York State, who was a contractor for the army, went to Troy, New York, to purchase a quantity of provisions. At that place the provisions were inspected, the official inspectors being two brothers named Wilson—Ebenezer and Samuel. The latter was very popular among the men and was known as “Uncle Sam Wilson” and everybody called him that. The boxes in which the provisions were packed were stamped with four letters, E. A. for Elbert Anderson, and U. S. for United States. One of the men engaged in making the inspection asked another of the workmen who happened to be a jocular fellow, what the letters E. A. U. S. on the boxes stood for. He said in reply that he did not know but thought they probably meant Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam Wilson, and that they had left off the W which would stand for Wilson. The suggestion caught on quickly and as such things often do, the joke spread rapidly so that everybody soon thought of the name “Uncle Sam” whenever they saw the letters U. S. on anything or in any place.
The suit of striped trousers and long tailed coat and beaver hat in which Uncle Sam is now always represented in pictures, was the inspiration of the famous cartoonist.
THE WORLD’S BREAD LOAVES
| Egypt 2500 B.C. | Unleavened Bread 2000 B.C. | Pompeii 50 A.D. | Palestine |
| Modern American Loaf | England England | ||
| France | Hungary | Spain | Switzerland |
| Bohemia | Holland | Italy | |
| Austria | Germany | Balkan States | |