By the mid-19th century Uncle Sam became the most recognizable personification of the U.S. government. Rather than an authority figure, he most often was portrayed with affection and used as an emblem of national kinship to instill patriotism. This costume was worn by Wilburt E. Leppien. Leppien first appeared as Uncle Sam in 1956 and took part in numerous ceremonies and parades across the country, including five presidential inaugurations.
This fake alligator foot-topped pointer was used by Texas entrepreneur Ross Perot, an independent candidate in the presidential race of 1992. Perot is credited with delivering the 1st presidential campaign infomercials. From early October to just a day before the election, Perot bought several primetime slots to air 30 to 60 minute programs on the 3 major television networks. Most of these featured him sitting at a desk speaking directly to the American people. Because he believed “America needs more than six-second answers,” Perot relied heavily on physical charts and graphs, the first presidential candidate to do so. During two of his infomercials, he pointed at his visual aids with what he called his “voodoo stick” with a fake alligator claw. (Perot’s nickname for this pointer was a bit of a play on words. George Bush had coined the phrase “voodoo economics” more than a decade earlier. Perot said it was appropriate because the country was in “deep voodoo”). Although he didn’t win, Perot received almost 19% of the popular vote, making him the most successful non-major party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.
Yorick is a plastic male skeleton imbedded with electronic and mechanical devices used to replace worn body parts. Yorick was created by Ed Mueller, an engineer in the Division of Mechanical and Material Sciences at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in Washington, D.C.
Yorick often made appearances at schools, Scout meetings, and hospitals to educate students about bionics and current research on implant design development.
Some of the devices implanted in Yorick are: cranial plate, silicone nose, carbon tooth root, interocular lens, cochlear implant, heart valve, artificial heart, cardiac pacemaker, infusion port, vascular grafts, urinary sphincter prosthesis, artificial patella, bone plate, artificial tendons, bone growth stimulator, and artificial hip, knee, elbow, and finger joints.
