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Kilroy Was Everywhere By Arden Miller, CZM The year was 1941. America and her allies were into the third year of the second World War. Those with televisions had witnessed the first commercial ever—an ad for Bulova watches. Mount Rushmore was recently completed and Curious George and Cheerios had just arrived on the scene. Movie-goers were talking about the Maltese Falcon (some are still talking, as it's considered by those who consider such things to be the very first in the noir film genre). On the radio, many households tuned in to "The Life of Riley." Fans of literature made For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway one of the year's most acclaimed books. And throughout the country and, increasingly, the entire world, talk and legend was building for three little words: Kilroy was here. Who was Kilroy? The much-scrawled name that took on a life of its own belonged to a supervisor at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation (later, this became the Fore River Shipyard), James J. Kilroy. What began as a practical practice—his way of signing off on the ships he'd inspected, making sure people were getting paid for work they'd completed—became a rallying cry for the allied forces. Since war-time production was in over-drive and there was no time to paint over his sign-off, ships left the yard with this phrase intact. Vessels, naturally, showed up in many places around the world and Kilroy came to represent an everyman's uber-GI. Often accompanying the phrase is a bulbous-nosed cartoon face peeking over a wall, a depiction introduced by British infantry, based on an English character named Mr. Chad. Many added this flourish in their own replications of the declaration and throughout the war, from Berlin to Belgrade, Lithuania to Latvia, outhouse walls and pool halls, Kilroy was here, there, and everywhere. After the war, the legend, and the phrase, continued to gain popularity. Kilroy came to represent achievement and the indomitable spirit of the Allied Forces (with a dose of humor/humour for good measure). In honor of the ubiquitous Kilroy, marks have been left on the Great Wall of China; the Statue of Liberty's torch; the top of Mount Everest; the private bathroom used by Truman, Stalin, and Churchill during the Potsdam, Germany conference of 1945; and the moon! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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