Who is Uncle Sam's wife and what happened to her? I'm Colton from Ripley's.com and this is your Weird Minute. We're all nieces and nephews of Uncle Sam in the good ol' US of A. But believe it or not, the fictional mascot of America has a wife. Aunt Sammy was introduced to America in 1926 and is the partner of the man plastered on posters encouraging men to sign up for war in the coming decades. Sammy was conceived by the Bureau of Home Economics at the Department of Agriculture.
Serving as a domestic advisor and role model, Sammy appeared on the radio in a program called Housekeeper's Half Hour, along with a host of other characters created by the Bureau, including Ebenezer, an uncle, Billy, a nephew, Percy D. Willington, a picky eater and nosy neighbor. Sammy was voiced by local hosts at each station, matching local dialects and interjecting timely or local news to make her as friendly as possible.
Her on-air recipes became American staples, but she also ventured into more adventurous, traditional Chinese cooking from time to time. Her published book became the first cookbook to be published in Braille in 1932. For more strange stories, visit Ripley's.com. Rate the Weird Minute if you haven't already, and tune in tomorrow for another Minute of Odd.