Kilroy Was Here

The doodle pairs a specific drawing with a specific line. The drawing is a bald man, sometimes sketched with a couple of stray hairs, whose oversized nose droops over a wall while his fingers grip the top edge1. The caption underneath almost always reads 'Kilroy was here,' though the same figure has been attached to other names in different countries, including Smoe, Clem, Overby, and the British 'Mr. Chad'2.

Part of what made Kilroy work was how portable it was. A soldier only needed chalk, paint, or a pencil and any flat surface to reproduce it, which is why the image turned up on latrines, bulkheads, jeeps, bomb crates, and captured buildings across Europe and the Pacific3. The joke is that Kilroy has already been wherever you are, no matter how remote or off-limits the location.

The exact origins of Kilroy remain somewhat mysterious, with multiple origin stories. The most widely accepted account traces Kilroy to American military culture during WWII, where soldiers created the image and phrase as a form of marking their presence. The image appeared on military equipment, in barracks, and in unexpected locations worldwide as soldiers spread it during the war. Post-war, the image continued to appear as graffiti. When meme culture emerged in the 1990s, early adopters recognized Kilroy as a historical example of viral messaging. The image appeared in early forums and messageboards as users familiar with the historical meme incorporated it into online culture.

The classic version is a simple line drawing: an arc for the top of a wall, two hands hooked over it, and between them a bald head with a long droopy nose and dot eyes. The caption 'Kilroy was here' typically goes under or beside the figure. People commonly leave it in unexpected places, so the joke depends on the location: the more surprising the spot, the better the punchline. Substituting the name (for example 'Foo was here') is a common variation.