Western Art - 'Kilroy Was Here' - A Momentous Symbol of the US Army

'Kilroy was here' - The Concept

Originated around World War II (1939-45) and Korean War (1950-53), 'Kilroy was here' is an American culture expression, often displayed in graffiti (name given to images or letters written in any manner on property). This phrase is framed differently in different countries, such as in Australia the character peeping over a wall is called 'Foo,' 'Sapo' in Chile, 'El Fisgon' in Mexico, and in the U.K., it is called 'Chad.' Kilroy was represented as a bald cartoon character with a long nose. He was shown gazing over a wall hiding everything except his eyes & nose and sometimes fingers. This was declared as 'Kilroy was here.'

The Origin

There are many speculations about the origin of 'Kilroy was here':

1. In December 1946, New York Times acknowledged James J. Kilroy, a welding inspector at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts for starting it.

Usually, the inspectors used a chalk sign to mark the number of rivets they have checked. The builders, whose rivets J.J. had checked, were paid according to the number of rivets they put in. The inspector would put a chalk mark at the end of their shift to show the next inspector where they had left. Some crooked welders however, would erase this chalk mark and would chalk a mark further back on the joint to get double the pay. To prevent this Mr. Kilroy marked his welding work with a long crayoned phrase that said 'Kilroy was here' on the items he inspected. This became a common sight in the shipyard and was imitated by workers when they moved around the world.

2. Another origin says that the United States service members would draw the doodle and would write the phrase 'Kilroy was here' in the places they would visit, or be stationed at. Probably, thousands of service members saw this slogan on the outgoing ships, thereby placing these slogans in different places, especially in the newly captured areas during the World War 2.

3. Another possibility was that Kilroy was actually Richard Kilroy O Malley from Butte, the author of 'Mile High Mile Deep' and an associate press correspondent, who was posted in Berlin, Korea, Cyprus, and many other countries.

The Myths

Some of the myths revolving around the graffiti are that of:

o Adolf Hitler, who believed that Kilroy was some super person, as he kept coming up in Naza installations
o Stalin being the first to enter an outhouse, especially built for the leaders of the post dam conference and he excitedly asked 'who is this Kilroy?'

However, this graffiti made its presence in the difficult to reach places such as Statue of Liberty, Marco Polo Bridge in China, the peak of Mount Everest, etc. Today, 'Kilroy was here' remains a fanciful symbol of the significant achievements of the entire generation of Americans during the 20th century's dark hour.

Source : ezinearticles