The REALTOR® Spirit of (19)76
JULY 2006 - To celebrate America's Bicentennial in 1976 REALTORS® gave President Gerald Ford a portrait of Uncle Sam that had been missing for years. Boards across the country told his story on film and in print. There was even an article published in Parade Magazine.
In 1950 the U.S. State Department had commissioned Herbert R. Noxon to create the Uncle Sam painting to show other countries what the classic American symbol looked like. The portrait changed hands in the early 1970s before its discovery in a Connecticut attic and subsequent purchase by NAR. The Smithsonian Institution authenticated the painting.
Uncle Sam was based on Sam Wilson of Troy, New York. During the War of 1812 Wilson and his brother Ebeneezer supplied the U.S. military with beef, pork, and other provisions in casks that were often stamped US. Workmen joked that the letters belonged to the likeable Wilson, nicknamed "Uncle Sam."
Sam Wilson died in his hometown of Troy in 1854. Uncle Sam lives on today in cartoons and illustrations seen around the world.
