What do you know about your Uncle Sam?

PETER BUFFA

Is there anything more patriotic? I say there is not. Some holidays

are complicated. Some are a little vague. But the Fourth of July is

simple in its origin and crystal clear in its intent.

It’s America’s birthday! Am I honored to have my column fall right

smack plunk on the Fourth of July? Please. I am way, way beyond

honored. I am humbled and awestruck and almost at a loss for words,

but unfortunately for you, not quite.

Do you know what the chances are of the Fourth of July falling on

a Sunday? Three hundred sixty-six, divided by 12, times seven, then

you have to, well, let’s just say the odds are really, really small.

This being America’s day of days, I have nothing better to offer

you than the story of where your uncle named Sam came from, in all

his red-white-and-blue glory, and his birthday, which is this very

day.

During the War of 1812, which took place early in the early 1800s,

a meat packer in Troy, N.Y., named Sam Wilson had a contract to

supply the American troops with rations. In those days, meat was

dried, salted and shipped in barrels, which I suspect was every bit

as nasty as it sounds. Each barrel was stamped with a “U.S.” mark,

and the big joke among the troops was “ ... this meal courtesy of

Uncle Sam Wilson.”

Apparently, it didn’t take much to make troops laugh in 1812.

Sam Wilson was a tall, slender man with a white beard who always

wore a top hat, which was very common at the time. Supposedly, Wilson

was the inspiration for a number of cartoons at the time depicting

the U.S. going toe-to-toe with the Brits.

Over the years, the Uncle Sam character was decked out in

ever-increasing red, white and blue, eventually from head to toe.

The version we’re most familiar with is the stern-looking Uncle

Sam from the World War I and World War II recruiting posters,

pointing his finger and saying, “I want you.”

On September 15, 1961, Congress passed a resolution claiming “ ...

Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York as the progenitor of America’s

national symbol of Uncle Sam.”

If you’re ever in Troy, you can find Sam Wilson’s gravestone in

Oakwood Cemetery in North Troy, which can be found just north of

South Troy. OK, fine, but what about the rest of it?

The summer of 1776 was a hot one in Philadelphia, which is no

news. For weeks, some really smart men in really silly clothes had

been meeting as the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia’s

Independence Hall.

They talked about a lot of things, but mostly about England. The

colonies and England did not have a good relationship. They said

ugly, hurtful things to each other and holiday dinners were strained

and awkward.

Things got so bad that the colonies went to war with England in

1775 and decided to formally declare their independence in that long

hot summer of ’76.

They picked Thomas Jefferson, who was very tall and very smart, to

write an announcement for all the world to read. It was called the

Declaration of Independence and was ratified at Independence Hall on

July 4, 1776.

Twelve of the 13 colonial delegates -- including John Hancock --

signed the document with their “John Hancock.” New York abstained.

They wanted to eat first.

In describing the events of the day, John Adams wrote in a letter

to his wife, Abigail, “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and

parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells bonfires and

illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this

time forward, forevermore.”

We still hear you, John, and we’re trying our best.

John Adams apparently was a great party planner. There was

cheering and dancing in the streets and way too much drinking and

general carrying-on.

Afterward, most of the delegates retired to the City Tavern, along

with as many revelers as could shove themselves through the door.

City Tavern stood at the corner of 2nd and Walnut, and that’s exactly

where you’ll find it today, still going strong.

Talk about an A-list clientele. Franklin, Jefferson, Adams and

Paul Revere were all regulars, and George Washington had his birthday

party there in 1789, the night before heading to New York to be

inaugurated as our first President.

Ironically, at that first Fourth of July party, Adams, Jefferson,

Franklin and friends ran up a huge bill which, in all the excitement,

was never paid and hangs proudly behind the bar to this day.

The mother of all block parties continued through the night,

fueled by prodigious amounts of ale and rum. And there were

fireworks, lots of fireworks, known as “illuminations” at the time.

So when you look up at the sky tonight and point and “ooh” and

“ah,” you’re doing exactly what those Philadelphia revelers did,

exactly 228 years ago tonight. Fireworks and the Fourth of July --

bright red-white-and-blue threads in the American tapestry.

Oh, I almost forgot. If you can get on the Internet, try this

site, especially if you have sound: https://www.njagyouth.org/

Liberty_.htm. A number of people were kind enough to send it to

me, and it is a full-on Fourth of July blast. So happy birthday Uncle

Sam, and may God watch over our troops and bless this country forever

and ever and ever. Now go have fun.

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at ptrb4@aol.com.