Genealogists might be able to rattle off a list of the countries that their ancestors came from before they immigrated to America. An interesting Halloween costume could come from the traditional outfits that are from those parts of your heritage. What if you don’t know where your ancestors came from? In that case, you could choose a Halloween costume that reflects your American heritage.
One American Halloween costume idea that immediately comes to mind is Uncle Sam. Most people don’t realize that the iconic Uncle Sam, (who wants YOU to join the United States Army), was inspired by an actual person.
There was a man named Samuel Wilson, who lived in Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson supplied the United States Army with beef. It was shipped in barrels that were labeled “U.S.”. Obviously, the letters stood for “United States”. However, people joked that it stood for “Uncle Sam”. The name stuck, and officially became a symbol of the United States as of 1852.
Another Halloween costume that reflects American heritage is that of Rosie the Riveter. This is the woman who you have seen in posters with rolled up sleeves, a red handkerchief in her hair, and very nicely toned, muscular, arms.
The name “Rosie” came from a song that was popular in 1942. The poster was designed by J. Howard Miller, for Westinghouse Co.’s War Production Coordinating Committee. Eventually, “Rosie the Riveter” ended up representing the women who started working in the factories when the majority of men were in the military.
There are three different animals that you could dress up as for Halloween that would reflect your American heritage. The Bald Eagle was selected as the emblem of the United States on June 20, 1782. It was chosen because of its long life, great strength, and majestic looks. In 1782, it was believed that the Bald Eagle only lived on the continent that the United States is a part of.
You could also choose to dress up as the animal that is the symbol of the political party that you like to vote for. The symbol of the Democratic party is the donkey. In 1828, Andrew Jackson was running for President of the United States. One of his opponents called him a “jackass”. Jackson decided to start using an image of the strong-willed donkey on his campaign posters. Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast used an image of the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons.
The symbol of the Republican party is the elephant. Cartoonist Thomas Nast did a political cartoon in 1874 that showed a donkey, (dressed in a lion’s skin), that was scaring away the rest of the zoo animals. He labeled and elephant “The Republican vote”. This forever cemented the connection between the elephant and the Republican party.
Image by DonkeyHotey on Flickr