During World War II, the phrase "Kilroy was here" became popular graffiti that was accompanied by a picture of a bald man with a long nose peeking over a wall. The image followed American and British soldiers in Europe all over walls, railroad cars, and bathroom stalls. Apparently the image confused enemy troops who became concerned that Kilroy was a spy. During World War II, some British soldiers called the character "Mr. Chad" and referenced lacking supplies with captions like "Wot? No Tea?" The image may have originated during World War I when British and Australian soldiers drew a similar picture with the caption "Foo was here." No one is sure where American soldiers got the name "Kilroy" from, but the most popular theory came when the American Transit Association held a radio contest on 1946 to answer the question. Apparently a shipyard worker named James J. Kilroy had been writing the phrase on top of the tanks he inspected to indicate to his superiors that they had been rechecked. The graffiti has become a symbol for nostalgia and pride associated with World War II and was even engraved in the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/kilroy-was-here/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51249/whats-origin-kilroy-was-here
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kilroy-was-here
I thought your blog post was interesting because I did not know this graffiti saying "kilroy was here" existed until you mentioned it. I like how you added some background information about how the man James J. Kilroy would write this on tanks that he had rechecked so that other shipyard workers wouldn't recheck them. I also thought it was interesting that opposing troops believed that Kilroy was an American spy because it caused confusion. While the original creator is unknown and there were inferences made, Kilroy still shows up in places all over the globe.
ReplyDeletesource - https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/kilroy-was-here/
It's refreshing to see the bits of comedy and creativity that took place even in the midst of WW2. The predecessor to "Kilroy was here" was, as you mentioned, "Foo was here." It was originally created by Australian soldiers during WWI, but also became popular with school children and the general population in the post war years. Some believe "Foo" was an acronym for Forward Observation Officer, but it may in fact be a backronym-- a label that refers to an actual word or meaning, but is also used as an acronym.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Foo_was_here
This was a really interesting blog to read! This cartoon "Kilroy" is a pretty sharp contrast to other darker things I've read in other blog posts about world war 2. It's very refreshing! I can see how this kind of comic relief may have been good for many soldiers– i mean, who wouldn't love seeing a funny bald cartoon man in the midst of fighting a war? This must have made the was a little less scary for many people. In an article I read, I learned that soldiers thought ships with the tag "Kilroy was here" were good luck because (jokingly) they thought Kilroy had already checked it out and it would be strong against the enemy.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/whats-the-origin-of-kilroy-was-here.html