RARE AND HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT FERROTYPE (TINTYPE) IMAGE OF SAMUEL WILSON (‘UNCLE SAM’) OF TROY, NEW, YORK.

RARE AND HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT FERROTYPE (TINTYPE) IMAGE OF SAMUEL WILSON (‘UNCLE SAM’) OF TROY, NEW, YORK. Image depicts a white-bearded Sam Wilson in button-up black vest and cost. His cheeks have been tinted pink. This is the only known photographic image in existence of the official progenitor of America’s national symbol of ‘Uncle Sam’. Samuel Wilson was born on September 13, 1766: in what is now Arlington, Massachusetts previously called Menotomy and West Cambridge, and died on July 31, 1854 in Troy, New York. His meat packing business and the War of 1812 put him into history on a blustery and soggy day of October 1, 1812. There appears to have been a definite incident when one of his employees declared, as a joke, that the letters ‘U.S.’ on the government meat casks packed at Wilson’s establishment actually stood for ‘Uncle Sam Wilson’. The story grew that anything marked U.S. was really Uncle Sam’s, which laughingly, made Wilson a man of great posessions. The meat casks had the initials ‘EA – US’ on them. The ‘EA’ stood for Elbert Anderson, Jr. and the ‘US’ stood for United States. Anderson was an Army contractor who was buying meat from suppliers in New York and New Jersey, including the Wilson brothers. Army regulations required that the initials of the contractor and of the United States appear on the casks. This story was thoroughly documented by Colonel Edgar T. Noyes of San Antonio, Texas, Alton Ketchum of New York City and Thomas I. Gerson of Schenectady, New York over a period of 25 to 30 years of in depth research and the collecting of definitive documentation. This research being so definitive that Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York was officially declared as the progenitor of America’s national symbol of ‘Uncle Sam’ by the Eighty-Seventh Congress of the United States of America at the First Session on September 15, 1961. This original ferrotype (tintype) of Samuel Wilson was a major part of the Col. Noyes collection of Uncle Sam material that was used as documentation in the process leading to the above mentioned Act of Congress. The portrait photograph was the work of Christopher Schoonmaker, one of Troy’s earliest known photographers, located at 282 River Street in Troy, New York, in 1852. It is the focal point of a feature article on ‘The Origin and History of Uncle Sam’ published in the November 1966 issue of the American Legion Magazine, a copy of which accompanies this lot offering. This article includes a detailed history of this photograph and the complete provenance up to and including it becoming a part of the Noyes collection. After the death of Col. Noyes, James Heller of Longview, Texas acquired the photograph directly from the estate of Col. Noyes. It became a part of his personal collection of patriotic Americana until Gerald E. Czulewicz, Sr. acquired it directly from Mr. Heller in 1999. A notarized letter from Mr. James Heller discussing his acquisition of this photograph from the collection of Col. Noyes and the acquisition of the photograph by Mr. Czulewicz from Mr. Heller accompanies this lot. Ferrotype is in its original gutta-percha ‘Union Case’, the back plate, verso, is inscribed in relief script “Sam’l Wilson, St. Mary’s Str., Troy, 1852. Embossed into the blue velvet liner inside of the case to the left, opposite the photographic image is ‘Schoonmaker’ 282 River St. Troy, N.Y. SIZE: Ferrotype photograph is 1/4 ” (plate). CONDITION: Generally very good with some minor blemishes in the background. 1-26908 (15,000-20,000)

Auction: Advertising, Toy & Doll - Fall 2001

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	30	$10,350.00	RARE AND HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT FERROTYPE (TINTYPE) IMAGE OF SAMUEL WILSON (‘UNCLE SAM’) OF TROY, NEW, YORK. Image depicts a white-bearded Sam Wilson in button-up black vest and cost. His cheeks have been tinted pink. This is the only known photographic image in existence of the official progenitor of America’s national symbol of ‘Uncle Sam’. Samuel Wilson was born on September 13, 1766: in what is now Arlington, Massachusetts previously called Menotomy and West Cambridge, and died on July 31, 1854 in Troy, New York. His meat packing business and the War of 1812 put him into history on a blustery and soggy day of October 1, 1812. There appears to have been a definite incident when one of his employees declared, as a joke, that the letters ‘U.S.’ on the government meat casks packed at Wilson’s establishment actually stood for ‘Uncle Sam Wilson’. The story grew that anything marked U.S. was really Uncle Sam’s, which laughingly, made Wilson a man of great posessions. The meat casks had the initials ‘EA – US’ on them. The ‘EA’ stood for Elbert Anderson, Jr. and the ‘US’ stood for United States. Anderson was an Army contractor who was buying meat from suppliers in New York and New Jersey, including the Wilson brothers. Army regulations required that the initials of the contractor and of the United States appear on the casks. This story was thoroughly documented by Colonel Edgar T. Noyes of San Antonio, Texas, Alton Ketchum of New York City and Thomas I. Gerson of Schenectady, New York over a period of 25 to 30 years of in depth research and the collecting of definitive documentation. This research being so definitive that Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York was officially declared as the progenitor of America’s national symbol of ‘Uncle Sam’ by the Eighty-Seventh Congress of the United States of America at the First Session on September 15, 1961. This original ferrotype (tintype) of Samuel Wilson was a major part of the Col. Noyes collection of Uncle Sam material that was used as documentation in the process leading to the above mentioned Act of Congress. The portrait photograph was the work of Christopher Schoonmaker, one of Troy’s earliest known photographers, located at 282 River Street in Troy, New York, in 1852. It is the focal point of a feature article on ‘The Origin and History of Uncle Sam’ published in the November 1966 issue of the American Legion Magazine, a copy of which accompanies this lot offering. This article includes a detailed history of this photograph and the complete provenance up to and including it becoming a part of the Noyes collection. After the death of Col. Noyes, James Heller of Longview, Texas acquired the photograph directly from the estate of Col. Noyes. It became a part of his personal collection of patriotic Americana until Gerald E. Czulewicz, Sr. acquired it directly from Mr. Heller in 1999. A notarized letter from Mr. James Heller discussing his acquisition of this photograph from the collection of Col. Noyes and the acquisition of the photograph by Mr. Czulewicz from Mr. Heller accompanies this lot. Ferrotype is in its original gutta-percha ‘Union Case’, the back plate, verso, is inscribed in relief script “Sam’l Wilson, St. Mary’s Str., Troy, 1852. Embossed into the blue velvet liner inside of the case to the left, opposite the photographic image is ‘Schoonmaker’ 282 River St. Troy, N.Y. SIZE: Ferrotype photograph is 1/4 ” (plate). CONDITION: Generally very good with some minor blemishes in the background. 1-26908 (15,000-20,000) Auction: Advertising, Toy & Doll - Fall 2001 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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