What is meant by the Spirit of '76? Is it that classic picture of soldiers marching with the fife and drum? Besides just general imagery of patriotism, to what specifically does this refer? - Jinx
It’s the title of a painting. And the artist likely gave it that to demonstrate the heroism of those who fought in the American Revolution. The principal characters are young and old, healthy and wounded, and carrying around a tattered flag, but still proud. It was a team effort!
Unless you were either female or black.
'76. As in 1776. As in July 4, 1776. As in the Declaration of Independence. As in the Revolutionary War. That specific bit of patriotism.
Yes, it is the painting, one of the most patriotic images of U.S. history, painted by Archibald M. Willard. The first original which is about 10 feet by 8 feet hangs in the Town Hall (Abbot Hall) in Marbleheaad, Mass. and was painted in 1876 to commemorate the centennial iof the American Revolution. There are several copies, one of which can be seen at
Well, all that high-falutin’ talk of freedom and democracy aside, everybody knows it’s really just all about the oil.
I kid, I kid.
From some of my readings about the Founding Fathers, they tended to use the phrase in a nostalgic way around the turn of the 19th century, a period of intense partisan rivalry, to refer back to a time when everyone was united against the British,* not riven apart by parties and factions. For example, Jefferson and Adams were two of the key drafters of the Declaration, and yet by 1800-1804 they were at each others’ throats, politically. So it was a reference back to a spirit of solidarity, youth, idealism, etc.
*Not that everyone really was, of course, what with all those Tory Loyalists, and also the fence-sitters, but they got dropped out of the mythology.
Its the aeroplane Lindbergh flew to Paris.
You’re joking, right?
For anyone who doesn’t get it: Lindy flew the “Spirit of St. Louis”, which now hangs in the airport at Lambert Field, in St. Louis.
There’s at least two planes that were called “The Spirit of '76”. The more well-known was a 707 that Nixon used as Air Force One from 1972 – I’m not sure when it went out of use, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pictures of Carter with a plane named 'The Spirit of ‘76’ in the background.
And one of Braniff’s planes, a DC-8, was named 'The Spirit of ‘76’ and painted red, white and blue by an artist named Alexander Calder who painted several of Braniff’s planes in colorful, distinctly mid-70s schemes. They also had almost-avocado green planes, purple planes, orange planes, dressed their flight attendants in bright 70’s fashions, ran the only intracontinental Concorde service in the US for a few months, and had a ridiculous late-60’s terminal of their own at Dallas-Fort Worth. (It even had a monorail.) They went bankrupt* in 1982 and were revived and went bankrupt again twice after that. For reasons I still don’t understand, every episode of South Park ends with a shot of a Braniff plane, but it’s not one of the wildly-painted ones.
*: Because of Federal deregulation of the airline industry, not because the world collectively came to its senses regarding interior design, fashion and color schemes around that time.
Huh? Is this the continuation of the joke and now I’m being whooshed?
Unless they’ve moved it very recently, the Spirit of St. Louis is rather prominently displayed in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. It’s one of the most popular attractions in the museum.
You know, sometimes it simply doesn’t pay to answer a question. Either I’ve gone completely nuts, or the plane I saw in the St. Louis airport more-than-yearly for many years was a replica.
I swear, my memory is getting worse and worse.
An obscure Marvel superhero who became the second Captain America when the original vanished in 1943-44(?). (Retconned)
I hear ya, Derleth. By the time I read your post I wasn’t sure who was joking and who wasn’t (I was getting ready to believe that the Lindbergh Baby, nicknamed “Wrong-Way”, had flown from Paris TX to St Louis in the “Spirit of '76”).
Anyway, it turns out that Charles Lindbergh’s original personal monocoupe is the thing that you saw hanging in Lambert-St. Louis Airport.
Confirmation here:
I thought the Spirit of '76 was The Funky Phantom, even!
Of course I was joking. 
and I’m glad you cleared up where the plane is, because I was sure I saw it in the Museum of Flight.
While this seems like the obvious answer, the phrase refers to something specific as noted by others. But, thank you for your input.
I’ve often thought of this cartoon, but I couldn’t think of its name. I didn’t think anyone else would remember it! That voice who said “the spirit of '76, even!” must be the same voice of Snagglepus: “Exit, stage right or left, even!”
Very cool!
- Jinx
Well that’s all well and good, but what about Professor Henry R. Quail’s Spirit of Brooklyn?
You asked two questions in your OP. The first was to the painting, the second was this:
That was the question I answered.