I was on a weekend day trip up into Connecticut, checking out some things in Danbury, when I saw this tall Uncle Sam sculpture, seemingly in the middle of several roads. I was driving and in the midst of traffic, so I didn’t get a good luck (although I took one of these pictures at a red light, and another from a restaurant parking lot). So what’s the story of the Uncle Sam in Danbury?
First of all, a statement has been made that this is the world’s tallest Uncle Sam sculpture, measuring 38 feet tall and made of fiberglass. It was made in 1965 by International Fiberglass, a company founded in Venice, California around 1963, best known for their large molded fiberglass sculptures meant for roadside advertising. Originally, at the time he was created, this Uncle Sam was placed in front of the Uncle Sam’s hamburger restaurant in Toledo, Ohio. In 1971, it was sold to Danbury, Connecticut, where it towered over the State Fairgrounds. There’s a longer story of the journey of this Uncle Sam which you can read about here, but a short version is that after a time in Lake George and then an idea of going to Troy, Uncle Sam was brought back to Danbury and installed in the heart of downtown, on city-owned property at the Danbury Railway Museum, where it stands now.
Speaking of Troy, NY – that is the “hometown of Uncle Sam,” who was in fact a real guy in the 1800s: a local meatpacker named Samuel Wilson, who was reportedly called “Uncle Sam” around Troy because he employed a lot of his nephews and was a friendly, honest guy. When the War of 1812 broke out, Sam Wilson started packing his meat into barrels and shipped it in care of the Army, which was preparing to go to war with Canada. Soldiers were told that the meat had been supplied by a guy named “Uncle Sam,” and since “U.S.” was stamped on the barrels, the idea of “Uncle Sam” helping the “United States” became a popular legend.
I had a chance to visit Troy, New York years ago, and sure enough, there’s a presence of Uncle Sam all over the place. Here’s a picture of a sculpture that I saw there way back in 2012: the base reads: “Uncle Sam Wilson, 1766 – 1854, of Troy New York, born in Arlington, Mass.” The statue is situated in a small park, the “Uncle Sam Monument Park” on River Street at 145th Street. This 12 foot tall aluminum statue was created by the artist George Kratina, who was a sculptor from Chatham and a Professor at RPI.
