Any animal handpicked to be delivered to America by Christopher Columbus, one which has also given us the Uncle Sam personality, and which also was behind the coining of the now-famous name “Wall Street,” has indeed earned an indelible spot in American history. Read on to learn more surprising and true facts about pork.
How “Uncle Sam” came to represent the U.S. Government.
During the War of 1812, a New York pork packer named Uncle Sam Wilson shipped a boatload of several hundred barrels of pork to U.S. troops. Because each barrel was stamped “U.S.” on the docks, it quickly became bantered about that the “U.S.” stood for “Uncle Sam,” whose large pork shipment looked to be enough to feed the entire army. Thus “Uncle Sam” came to represent the U.S. Government itself.
The origin of the word “barbecue.”
It’s derived from French-speaking pirates, who called this Caribbean pork feast “de barbe et queue”, which translates “from beard to tail.” In other words, the pig roast reflected the fact that the hog was an eminently versatile animal that could be consumed from head to toe.
It’s a slice of America.
Ham is the number one sandwich eaten in U.S. households.
How Wall Street got its name.
Free-roaming hogs were notorious for rampaging through the precious grain fields of colonial New York City farmers. The Manhattan Island residents chose to limit the forays of these riotous hogs by erecting a long, permanent wall on the northern edge of what is now Lower Manhattan. A street came to border this wall, aptly enough named Wall Street.
Hogs are powerful medicine.
Hogs are a source of insulin, heart valves, skin for burn victims and nearly 20 drugs and pharmaceuticals.