[Ads-l] Earliest Known Example of "Kilroy Was Here"

Fri Apr 1 03:01:19 UTC 2016

Great discovery, Fred! Back in 2007 (before my time) Barry Popik
posted the message with the Sept 28, 1945 citation which included an
origin story that pointed to Sheppard Field, Texas. You found the
perfect periodical to search.

[Begin excerpt]
28 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 2, col. 4:
The Kilroy legend was started at Sheppard Field, Tex., by Staff
Sergeant Bennet. He started to write "Kilroy Was Here," "Kilroy Slept
Here," etc. Later, when we were at Kearns, Utah, a first sergeant
wanted to know who was missing from formation. Everyone yelled
"Kilroy!" The same thing happened at Ft. Lawton, out POE. We even
wrote "Kilroy" on the ship's head on our (Col. 5) way overseas. I
believe Staff Sergeant Bennet is on Saipan now, while I'm in Okinawa.
--Pfc. R. M. Belanger, APO 337
[End excerpt]

On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 10:19 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> The OED's first citation for "Kilroy was here" is dated Oct. 20, 1945.  Barry Popik has pushed the phrase back to Sept. 28, 1945.  There is an earlier occurrence, from an Access Newspaper Archive search, in _Sheppard Field Texacts_, July 14, 1945, page 3, column 1.
>
> Note that in the Yale Book of Quotations I cited a variant, "Kilroy Sleeps Here," from the _Kearns Air Force Post Review_, June 26, 1945.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org