Walter Botts, the man who modeled Uncle Sam's pose for J.M. Flagg's famous poster

Uncle Sam, half-length portrait, pointing at viewer as part of the United States government effort to recruit soldiers during World War I, with the famous legend "I want you for the U.S. Army," ca. 1917.

The nation has been personified as Uncle Sam for so long, the origins of the connection are hazy.

Some trace the linkage back to Samuel Wilson, a Revolutionary War-era supplies inspector the longshoremen referred to as “Uncle Sam”. The character first appeared in print in a comic published in the weekly New York Lantern in 1852. The iconic Uncle Sam, however, responsible for recruiting generations of soldiers, has a direct connection to the Hoosier State.

Artist James Montgomery Flagg referred to his own mirror image for the portrait of “Uncle Sam” he created for the cover of the July 6, 1916 issue of Leslie’s Weekly. The figure in the long-tailed coat, stove pipe hat and sideburns was captioned “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?”

When asked to update the highly effective image for use in World War 2, Flagg hired a Hoosier-born veteran who’d posed for Norman Rockwell. According to his widow’s memoir, Walter Botts was chosen over other models for Flagg’s Army poster “because he had the longest arms, the longest nose, and the bushiest eyebrows.”

Walter Botts posing as Uncle Sam in front of the iconic poster, ca. 1970.

Botts reportedly suggested the pointing gesture when the artist asked “Walt, what are you going to do with your long arms, sitting there?”

James Montgomery Flagg, 1915,
photographed by Arnold Genthe

The sometime model was a professional jazz musician in New York at the time Flagg painted his portrait. Born in 1900 in Jackson Township in Sullivan County, Indiana, Botts acknowledged English, German and “half-Crow Indian” ancestry. Equally adept at sports and music as a child, Botts’ youthful exploits included walking from Shelburn to Terre Haute to purchase his first cornet at the age of six, and breaking his famously long nose in a basketball game—and resetting it himself.

Soon after enrolling at Purdue University, Botts enlisted in the war effort. When his plan to fly planes was curtailed by his father, Botts tried for a job as a wireless operator in France, although the Armistice came while he was waiting to ship out from Hoboken, New Jersey.

With an honorable discharge, Botts resumed his studies, ultimately leaving Purdue to tour with Doc Ross’s Jazz Bandits as singer and saxophonist. Performing around the country, Botts enjoyed extended stints in Texas and California, where he hobnobbed with movie stars and took a screen test (although his Hollywood hopes were dashed by the once-broken nose). The band, which came to include Bob McCracken, Harry James and Jack Teagarden, had regular gigs at New York’s toniest watering holes from The Stork Club to the Waldorf Astoria.

Botts was presented with a commendation for service by President Johnson in 1969, and his memory honored posthumously by President Nixon.

(via Indiana Public Media)

Fascinating Black and White Photographs Captured the 1980s Punk Style in London

Punk and fashion have always been inextricably laced. Iconic designer and punk grand dame Vivienne Westwood knew this at the beginning of the movement, and even opened a store in the middle of London called Seditionaries (formerly called SEX), which catered specifically to the punk demographic. Personal style that broke the mold of was the billboard of youth rebellion.

In the 1970s and 1980s, The Washington Post commissioned British photographer Robin Laurance to document a new breed of cool kids who brazenly wore studded, black leather jackets and motorcycle boots and used safety pins as embellishments on their clothes as well as their ears, and who had adapted several cues from the bondage aesthetic to their everyday style. They were an immediate response to changes in music, art, literature and sociopolitical ideologies that favored anti-establishment, individuality and freedom.

(Robin Laurance/For The Washington Post)

Punk queen Edwige Belmore with designer Michel Klein sitting on a Rolls Royce in front of a party the designer was throwing on October 29, 1977. London, UK (Robin Laurance for The Washington Post)

Bonita and Shane Kelley from Portsmouth on their wedding day. (Robin Laurance for The Washington Post)

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, photographed at her shop Seditionaries on 430 Kings Road. Formerly called ‘SEX’ the store’s name changed in 1977 and was a staple for buying clothing geared towards punks. (Robin Laurance for The Washington Post)

Punk Beverly Harris from Nottingham, England in a black cotton bondage jacket. (Robin Laurance for The Washington Post)

24 Beautiful Kodachrome Snapshots Captured the Life in Germany during the 1950s

These beautiful Kodachrome photos were taken in some cities in Germany by photographer Max Leonard that documented streets scenes during the 1950s.

After the Munich Fasching Parade, 1955

Arnulf Klett Platz, Stuttgart, 1951

At General Walker terrace in Obersalzberg, 1958

At the Tattersal in Wiesbaden, 1958

Bad Herrenalb, Germany, 1955

Huskies pulling sledge, New South Wales, 1912

Montana - The Big Sky Country: 20 Vintage Pictures Captured Everyday Life of This State in the 1930s

Montana Listeni is a state in the Western region of the United States. The state's name is derived from the Spanish word monta簽a (mountain). Montana has several nicknames including "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently "The Last Best Place". The economy is primarily based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming.

Look back the 1930s to see what everyday life in Montana looked like over 80 years ago.

Beer Parlor in Birney

Farmers in town, Fairfield

Deer Lodge, Montana

Ferris Wheel and Amusement Park Rides in Bozeman

First National Bank, Fairfield, Montana

A view from the Williamsburg Bridge, looking west in Manhattan, New York City, ca. 1900s

Vintage Posters of African American Hair Products Displayed at the 1939 Negro Industrial Fair in NYC

It wasn't just white women who were taught that their looks were all-important. How's that for twisted equality?

Display placards that promote fashions and hairstyles for African American women created for the grand opening of the Negro Industrial Fair at the headquarters of the Greater New York Coordinating Committee for Employment at 132 West 125th Street, Harlem, New York, June 24, 1939, which coincided with the New York World’s Fair.

The placards include hand-painted lettering and halftone photographs of African American women, as well as human hair samples that demonstrate hair coloring tints produced by the Clairol Company; they contain some fascinating ideas about femininity, beauty, and attracting a man.

(via Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities)