Credit: David Carlyon
Deeply patriotic, Rice often included political commentary and satire in his acts. Rice first wore a costume sporting the stars and stripes in 1852. A Democrat with southern sympathies during the Civil War, he was not the model for Uncle Sam, a figure given his modern form by political cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1869. With his brushy goatee and stove pipe hat, Rice did, however, did help spread the popularity of the emerging icon of Uncle Sam by appearing in costume before audiences across the country in the 1850s and 1860s.
