I love this piece of advertising, as admittedly, many people would question just how much of a heart and soul Uncle Sam really has, or how he was used in conjunction with a newspaper claiming to have both “heart and soul”. Back when this sign was produced, apparently the Denver Post Newspaper felt Uncle Sam was a good analog for the paper to help proclaim it had a heart and soul. This was not unusual however as Uncle Sam was used quite often in early advertising items of that era when this self-framed tin sign was made, and he always helped portray a wholesome image. The Denver Post proclaimed their paper “Tells Everybody Everything Every Day”. Hopefully we can expect the same from Uncle Sam in the future moving ahead.
The Denver Post remains in business today, having started putting out daily newspapers in 1892. The paper was only about 10-15 years old when this sign was made. There are not that many newspaper related sign from the early 1900 era in existence as I don’t believe many were ever produced. However, the message on this particular sign remains very true today, newspaper’s continue to provide us insights each and every day, even in the day of the electronic medium taking a firm hold in our news media choices. Patriotic images like this one portrayed on this sign remain one of the most collectible categories in antique advertising today.