On September 7, 1813, the U.S. acquired its nickname, Uncle Sam. During the War of 1812, a meat packer named Samuel Wilson was shipping meat for the U.S. Army. In his warehouse he stamped those barrels with ”U.S.” so his men would know which ones to ship to the army. Soldiers soon began referring to the meat as coming from Uncle Sam. A newspaper picked up on the story, and cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized the idea. However, our most famous image of Uncle Sam–in top hat and blue jacket used for recruiting posters during WWI–was created by James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960).
