Hey, it's me, Tyler. Bose open earbuds are stylish. The color, it looks almost like an earring. I feel like it could go with anything. The music I'm making right now feels like a holiday. I want to look like it too.
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D-J-E-L-F-A solutions.com. Hey, it's Lance Bass from Frosted Tips. Thanks to Hyundai, I recently took a road trip to Vegas for this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival. I was joined by my friend and fellow boybander, AJ McLean, and we got to explore some pretty cool spots along the way.
And we even recorded a special episode for you guys. Here's a sneak peek. What are your must-have road trip snacks? Uh, the original Spree-size sweet tarts. But the original sweet tarts, not the little chewy ones, those are not sweet tarts. Oh, I like the chewy ones.
Here are my go-tos. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They have to be the holiday versions. They have to be either an Easter egg or a Christmas tree. They do a pumpkin now. They got a pumpkin. They got a pumpkin now.
I'm a peanut butter guy. This episode is presented by Hyundai. Get your holidays started with the perfect tree and your perfect style from the Home Depot. Whether you want something that you can assemble in a few clicks, steal the show with over 2000 color changing bulbs, or a tree with lights that can be controlled by remote or foot pedal. The Home Depot has it all in our huge assortment of premium trees. Plus get free delivery on over 2 million items this holiday from the Home Depot.
Subject to availability, see homedepot.com slash delivery for details. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. The word mascot is French originating from the French term for lucky charm. Originally tied to anything thought to bring prosperity to a household, mascots today bring a form of identity to a sports team, a company, or a nation. Here to tell the story of how America's mascot, Uncle Sam, came to be is Wall Street Journal contributor, Stu Halpern.
Take it away, Stu. So the rumor long persisted that Uncle Sam was actually based on a real life figure. That figure was a fellow by the name of Samuel Wilson. Now Wilson lived in the late 1700s.
He was born outside of Boston in 1766. And during the War of 1812, fought by the United States against Britain, Wilson was a popular and impactful figure. He provided barrels of meat to American troops and the barrels were stamped with the sign US. So the story goes that a soldier turned to someone and asked, well, what does US stand for? And he was told, Uncle Sam Wilson is he who is feeding the army. And historians have actually said it's not surprising that this myth of origins arose from this rather avuncular fellow because as historian Alton Ketchum has noted, quote, an atmosphere of jocularity seems to have pervaded Samuel Wilson's operations wherever he went.
This was thought to be the origins of the mythical figure, the personified United States. But a few years ago, there was a discovery made of a journal by Isaac Mayo, who was a teenage Navy midshipman. And that proved that in fact, the nickname Uncle Sam had predated Sam Wilson's appearance in the War of 1812. On March 24, 1810, Mayo wrote in his diary from the USS Wasp where he was serving on the ship, quote, the first and second day out, I was most deadly seasick.
Oh, could I have gone on shore in the height of it? I swear that Uncle Sam as they call him, would certainly forever have lost the services of at least one sailor. In other words, already in 1810, people were talking about the United States through this personified character of Uncle Sam even before our beloved Sam Wilson was packing meat to serve to sailors. Well, regardless of the actual origins, the nickname Uncle Sam actually stopped. And so the figure started to be depicted on political cartoons, such as one in 1832. That cartoon, which was elaborating on the debate over President Andrew Jackson's attack on the bank of the United States was titled Uncle Sam in danger. And in that image, Uncle Sam is round face and clean shaven, wearing a star and striped gown and what was known as a Liberty cap, not yet the top hat that he would later be known for.
Over time, as the historian David Hackett Fisher has shown the dressing gown depicted in that painting was replaced by a swallowtail coat, and the Liberty cap turned into a beaver not yet again, the top hat that we will know and eventually love. Now, a lot of countries are known as maternal or paternal figures or images. Germany is known as the fatherland to Germans, Russians speak of Mother Russia, but the American Republic, its idea of the nation state as a kindly old uncle to whom Americans feel attached, but not dependent is something that uniquely characterizes America. During the Civil War, Uncle Sam symbolized the union in an 1862 lithograph known as Yankee volunteers marching into Dixie. There's an entire army of identical Sam's who are at that point clean shaven and smiling as they marched towards an assured victory on the part of the north. Around the same time, however, some artists started depicting Uncle Sam as Lincoln like, because of course the union idolized the beloved president and they started depicting Uncle Sam as being similar in this age. So Uncle Sam became tall, lanky and bearded, unlike in those earlier depictions. So closely, in fact, was Lincoln identified with the figure of this mythical Uncle Sam, that when Lincoln was assassinated, a reporter in Charleston, South Carolina, described how upon hearing of Lincoln's assassination, a black woman wrung her hands together and wailed on the street that Uncle Sam had been killed. Now, Sam, of course, outlived President Lincoln, as he has outlived all previous and for sure, subsequent American political leaders. Perhaps the best known image of Uncle Sam was made by an illustrator named James Montgomery Flagg. He made this image for Leslie's Weekly magazine in 1960. This was before America entered World War One and the original iteration of the image demanded to know from this depicted Uncle Sam, what are you doing for preparedness?
The stern face poster asked its onlookers. Once the US entered the war, now this is World War One, the text was changed to I want you for the US Army. And in this depiction, Uncle Sam now looked a little bit less like Lincoln, but more like the British Lord Kitchener, who had conquered Sudan on behalf of the British Empire. So Uncle Sam morphed, if you will, as his myth continued to grow and find new political context to impact and this Uncle Sam not like a lanky, unintimidating Lincoln was more mighty and more intimidating looking a figure befitting a military striving for victory in war.
And this poster by Flagg was printed in the millions. In fact, 4 million were distributed to the US during the war, fixing Uncle Sam in the national imagination. A few decades later, in World War Two, Uncle Sam swapped his high hat for a GI helmet. And on factory posters, he urged workers to be efficient and warned against spreading rumors about how the war was going and other such matters.
There was even a version aimed at farmers, yes, farmers, and it wants to tell the farmers to get ready for the census taker would be asking them about crops, livestock, even tractors. In other words, Uncle Sam was making hyper specific appearances in different segments of American political and civil society. In the 21st century, Uncle Sam shows no signs of slowing down despite his age.
Uncle Sam will no doubt be there as he always has been in various forms, offering a comforting shoulder, a sense of purpose and hopefully, like his purported namesake, Sam Wilson was known a good joke. And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling by our own Monty Montgomery and Reagan Habib. And a special thanks to Stu Halpern. His book, The Promise of Liberty, a Passover Haggadah is available in bookstores on Amazon or wherever you get your books.
I urge you to get it. The story of Uncle Sam, his beginnings, we're still not sure, to today and beyond. The story of America's mascot here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we tell stories of history, faith, business, love, loss and your stories. Send us your stories, small or large, to our email OAS at OurAmericanStories.com. That's OAS at OurAmericanStories.com. We'd love to hear them and put them on the air.
Our audience loves them too. This is Tanya Raad from Scrubbing In with Becca Tilly and Tanya Raad. This is what you do when you've just found that statement handbag on eBay and you want to build an entire wardrobe around it. You start selling to keep buying. Yep, on eBay. Over that all black everything phase, list it and buy all the color. Feeling more vintage than ever?
It's out with the new and in with the pre-loved. Next thing you know, you refresh your wardrobe basically without spending a dime. Yeah, eBay. The place to buy and sell new pre-loved vintage and rare fashion. eBay. Things people love. Catch the new original Hulu documentary Road Diary. Bruce Springsteen in the East Street band. When the world shut down, I made a promise that if we got through this, I'd throw the biggest party I could. Variety calls Road Diary a soulful celebration and the New York Post raves a genius at work.
Can't disappoint the fans. You can't do that. Road Diary premieres October 25th streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest with your guardrails in place. With Greenlight, you can send instant money transfers, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids' spending with real-time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get your first month free at greenlight.com slash iHeart. That's greenlight.com slash iHeart. What's up?
It's me, Don Toliver. If I could describe the old ultra open earbuds, I think I would describe it as very seamless. It can definitely be something that you can style.
It's like earing candy. Check out Bose.com for more. Head over to NFLshop.com today for the largest collection of officially licensed gear from all your favorite brands. NFL Shop is your ultimate destination for the official NFL Sideline collection worn by players and coaches on game day. Explore the same sideline and on-field gear worn by your favorite players and coaches at NFL Shop. To shop now, go to NFLshop.com.
