THE DISCREPANCY // 054
The familiar recruiting poster inspires a specific report: red vertical stripes remembered on the crown where James Montgomery Flagg’s image shows a pale crown above its star band. Uncle Sam has many depictions. This file concerns that pointing portrait.
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KITCHENER / 1914 — A small moustache sits beside an earlier date. Another pointing hand came first.
BEFORE THE REFERENCE
Separate the hat from the trousers before sketching either. Which part carries vertical stripes in your first version? A costume, cartoon or later adaptation may supply a genuine alternative. Give each its own identity instead of treating the character’s entire visual history as a single picture.
THE TRACE TO FOLLOW
The Library of Congress holds the poster reference. Compare the complete image, including lettering and border, with the object you remember. If a striped hat appears in a different Uncle Sam picture, keep it. The next question is whether those stripes also appear on a dated copy of this particular poster.
Keep your first version
Record the detail before opening a reference. Keep the exact object, release or edition with your comparison. A first recollection and a later discovery can be followed as separate traces.
FOLLOW THE SOURCES
Compare the particular object, recording or documented account.
Reported recollections and discussion; a separate trail from the reference.