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Uncle Sam Statues

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Uncle Sam
Ottawa Lake, MI

Uncle Sam
Lake George, NY (now Danbury, CT)
The Uncle Sam statue in Ottawa Lake was originally installed in 1965 at an Uncle Sam's Drive-in in Toledo, OH. The statue is about 40 feet tall. According to one report, the outstretched hand was meant to hold a giant hamburger. However, the burger was too heavy and that part of the design was scrapped. When the restaurant closed and changed names, the statue was painted to look like Abraham Lincoln. Later, it was briefly painted black when it was owned by a septic tank dealer. In 1992, the statue was moved to 23 Fuel Stop in Ottawa Lake, MI, a gas station, and fireworks place, where it stands today. The business is now known as All American Fireworks. In 2001, the statue was repainted as part of Hampton Inns' Save-a-Landmark program. [map]

According to this article, this was one of three statues created in Wisconsin in the mid-1960s for Uncle Sam's restaurants. However, news articles and other materials prove that International Fiberglass in Venice, CA produced these statues. See these items from Terry Nelson: 1, 2 and 3.

The smaller Uncle Sam statues mentioned in the article are completely different styles. I don't believe they had anything to do with Uncle Sam's Drive-ins. They are described below on this webpage. They were probably produced at FAST or one of its predecessors in Sparta, WI. For more, see this website.

The Uncle Sam statue in Lake George was located at Magic Forest. It appears to be a twin and just as tall as the one in Ottawa Lake. More than likely, it was one of the other one or two statues that were installed at an Uncle Sam's Drive-in. In 1971, this statue was installed at the Danbury Fair in Danbury, CT. When the Danbury Fair closed in 1981, Magic Forest bought the statue. It was installed at Magic Forest the following year. The statue was repainted in 1992. In 2018, the owner auctioned off most of the statues at the park. The city of Danbury acquired the statue in 2019. It has been restored and installed in front of the Danbury Railway Museum. For more, see this website. [map]

Uncle Sam
Convoy, OH
 Uncle Sam
Virginia, MN
The statues shown here in Convoy and Virginia and in the next two rows below appear to be smaller versions of the statue show above in Ottawa Lake. They are about 24 feet tall and were produced by Richard Kishel's Art Forms Workshop in Muncie, IN around 1969. It's not known what business or type of business these statues were originally built for. They may have been created for the All-American car wash chain or for a fireworks store chain. Or they may have been designed as a smaller version designed for Uncle Sam's restaurants (see above). For more, see this website.

Kishel also designed the similar-looking gas station attendant statues in Indiana around the same time.

The Uncle Sam in Convoy is located at U.S. 30 Fireworks. [map]

The Uncle Sam in Virginia stands in front of Iron Trail Motors. [map]

Uncle Sam [gone]
Evansville, IN

Uncle Sam
Vincennes, IN
The Uncle Sam in Evansville stood in front of an All-American Car Wash. The statue was raised up on stilts. These photos are from 2006. By 2011, the statue was gone. Does anyone know what happened to it?

The Uncle Sam in Vincennes was also installed at an All-American Car Wash. By 2009, the business was Ducky's Express Wash. By 2022, it was named Uncle Sam's Car Wash. There was another one of these statues in town that was gone by 2009. [map]

Uncle Sam
Fort Erie, ON
The Uncle Sam in Fort Erie is installed on the roof of Uncle Sam's Bingo. I don't know where it was originally installed. [map]

Uncle Sam
Waynesville, OH (now Hatch, NM)

2005:
2008:
2012:
 2017:
This Uncle Sam stood in front of Spencer's Antiques in Waynesville, OH when the top photos were taken in 2005. In 2006, the statue was sold on eBay for $10,000 and moved to Hatch, NM. It laid on its back in an empty lot for a few years. It now stands next to Sparky's restaurant. This Uncle Sam holds a chili pepper which is what Hatch is known for. Sparky's has many other fiberglass statues of people and animals. [map]

Uncle Sam [gone]
Terre Haute, IN
This Uncle Sam stood on the roof of the Great American Car Wash when these photos were taken in 2006. By 2013, the car wash and the statue were gone. I haven't seen a statue like this anywhere else. I don't know if the Great American Car Wash was a competitor of the All-American Car Wash or if one split off from the other. For more, see this website.

Uncle Sams [gone]
Indianapolis, IN
There were two Uncle Sam statues at the Eastgate Chrysler Plymouth Jeep dealership. One of them was much larger than the other. The smaller one is shown in the fourth photo above. These photos are from 2005. By 2014, the statues were gone.

Uncle Sam
Clarksville, TN (now Tallahassee, FL)

2007:
2020:
This Uncle Sam statue laid on its back behind the Top Dollar Pawn Shop in Clarksville in 2007. The store owned him for several years. In 2006, when the business relocated in town, the statue was brought along. By 2009, the statue had been sold. The last I heard, they had wanted more than $10,000 for the statue but I doubt they got that much. The statue has been installed in front of the Tallahassee Automobile Museum since at least 2010. I have not seen any other Uncle Sam statues of this type but I would assume that others were made. [map]

More Uncle Sams:
Newtown, CT; now Danbury, CT
Fort Myers, FL [gone]
Merrillville, IN [gone]
Troy, NY
Troy, NY
Toledo, OH [vintage; gone]

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