July 4th: Uncle Sam and Uncle Dan

  • Author: Michael Foight
  • Published: July 1, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The iconic 1917 United States Army recruiting poster done by James M. Flag – was based on the 1914 United Kingdom “Lord Kitchner Wants You” poster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently displayed on the wall outside of Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library Rare Book Room, a reproduction of this poster shows “Uncle Sam” as a personified manifestation of the national identity.

 

 

p. 12, "The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam"

p. 12, Uncle Sam, “The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p. 40, The Press Corrupted, The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam

p. 40, The Press Corrupted, “The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Already widely deployed in popular imagery, as can be seen in the 1900 patriotic “The Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam“, available in Villanova University’s Digital Library,  who was this “Uncle Sam”  based upon?   Some researcher’s have identified Samuel Wilson; a more likely candidate however is “Dan Rice“.

David Carlyon in his 2001 biography Dan Rice: the most famous man you’ve never heard of, noted on page 411:

“Dan Rice is the closest thing America has had to an embodiment of Uncle Sam.  He traveled nearly all the country, and the country knew him as well as it knew anyone else.  His signature goatee and top hat made him an instantly recognizable symbol. … Mythic truth aside, Rice looked the part, or rather the part looked like him.  Top-hatted, goateed Uncle Sam could be a caricature of Rice, including those formal clothes.  Rice himself had adopted a visually patriotic image.  His Pictorial of 1858 pictured him in striped pants and a starred top, and his 1860 songster put him in another flag suit.  (That songster also included the lyrics to Rice’s song, “Uncle Sam,” to the tune of “Brother Jonathan.”) If American had an actual Uncle Sam, it was Dan Rice.”

In 1856,  ‘Uncle Dan” came to town.  As seen in the advertisement in the recently digitized Tuesday, August 26, 1856 issue of the National Defender, “Dan Rice’s Great Show!” was being exhibited in Norristown, Pottstown and Doylestown.

 

 

 

p. [3], National Defender, v. I, no. 3, Tuesday, August 26, 1856

p. [3], National Defender, v. I, no. 3, Tuesday, August 26, 1856

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a moment this July 4th and remember Dan Rice, “Uncle Dan”, the one-and-only true model for Uncle Sam!

 

 

 

p. 78, Uncle Sam demands his money back, "Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam"

p. 78, Uncle Sam demands his money back, “Fable of John Bull and Uncle Sam”

 

 

 

 



Chicago Ledger – “Look Children! Here’s fun for you!”

  • Author: Michael Foight
  • Published: June 16, 2016
Front cover, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 31, Saturday, August 3, 1918

Front cover, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 31, Saturday, August 3, 1918

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chicago Ledger was a story paper published in Chicago, Illinois from 1872 until 1924. Available nationally on newsstands at time of publication, this color serial printed on lower quality paper has become one of the rarer items to find intact. Even incomplete and fragmentary issues are a rarity worth preserving, and containing fiction, advertisements, cartoons, cut-outs, and editorials. Digitization of these oft-times crumbling issues provides a way for researchers – both local and remote – to read and view this content without damage to the fragile original.

[1] p., Chicago Ledger, v. XLV, no. 50, December 15, 1917

[1] p., Chicago Ledger, v. XLV, no. 50, December 15, 1917

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ongoing digitization efforts are making issues available, but especially noteworthy are the available issues published during World War I  years (1914 / 1916 / 1917 / 1918  /1919) Of course more issues are being regularly added.

After United States entry into the war, a regular feature was the inclusion of cutouts. “Look Children! Here’s fun for you!” (see below), is one of a set of color images designed to be cutout and assembled as paper toys, some of these include American tanks and fighting airplanes, and even a Red Cross ambulance! Today, digitized as high-resolution color scans, these pages can be downloaded, printed – and assembled by young and old alike  – (linked article lists many  available WWI-era cutouts).

From p. 28, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 31, Saturday, August 3, 1918

p. 28, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 31, Saturday, August 3, 1918

From p. 28, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 26, Saturday, June 29, 1918

From p. 28, Chicago Ledger, v. XLVI, no. 26, Saturday, June 29, 1918

Cutout event

Cutout event



A U.S. Soldier’s Great War tale in 3-D

  • Author: Michael Foight
  • Published: June 9, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Created as part of a U.S. propaganda effort to show  in graphic form the glorious and adventure filled -but ultimately safe – story of a young Everyman in American service from patriotic recruiting office to the battlefields of France through captivity and escape, and then safely home to  “the Old Home Town”,  this newly digitized set of 25 print-drawing stereogram cards is now available for research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most stereogram cards of this period used photography (as can be seen in the following “Rat on Toast – for Dinner” stereogram) to capture two slightly different images which when viewed through a stereoscope produce a vivid 3-d effect.   Of course, printed drawings carefully colorized could also be used to created a vibrant effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the New York Public Library Lab’s Stereogranimator one can create and then use an animated stereogram.  Here is #20 from this set:

 





« Previous PageNext Page »

 


Last Modified: June 9, 2016