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" ... While Americans shared a few good-hearted laughs over the mysterious Kilroy, who somehow managed to arrive at every destination first, the slogan was a more serious matter for the opposition.

Japanese troops were so mystified by a "Kilroy Was Here" painted on a bombed out tank on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal that they reported the find to their senior intelligence officers, according to a U.S. Marine interviewed by World War II author Timothy Benford. "

Here's the link to the rest of the story including the identity of the real Kilroy:
http://www.livescience.com/history/0809 ... ilroy.html

[8D]

[8D]

Foo

ORIGINAL: Ike99

[8D]

Foo

Foo-ey.

ORIGINAL: Ike99

[8D]

Foo

[:)] I'm not the only one.

ORIGINAL: JeffK

ORIGINAL: Ike99

[8D]

Foo

[:)] I'm not the only one.

You and Ike ... hmmm ...

You and Ike ... hmmm ...

From the article you linked Joe it says a person in USA invented this graffiti during WW2 at a ship building place.

But Jeff showed this graffiti actually is much older.

He says WW1 and Australia. But regardless if it is from WW1 and Australia it certainly was around before WW2. So your article and historians are incorrect in my opinion.

Interesting though. I had never heard of Foo or Kilroy before that thread.

ORIGINAL: Ike99

... But Jeff showed this graffiti actually is much older.

No, Jeff produced a Wiki entry claiming that it was older, but the Wiki editors stated it needed more documentation, i.e., no footnotes or other references.

The entire thread is in WitP.

No, Jeff produced a Wiki entry claiming that it was older, but the Wiki editors stated it needed more documentation, i.e., no footnotes or other references.

Yes there are other references including this one at Digger History...

In WW1 Foo was a mythical and mysterious little "man" who turned up nearly everywhere (especially where there was a bit of nonsense going on).

He was shown (usually) as a little bald headed man peering over a stone wall, with the simple inscription "Foo was here".

ORIGINAL: Ike99

No, Jeff produced a Wiki entry claiming that it was older, but the Wiki editors stated it needed more documentation, i.e., no footnotes or other references.

Yes there are other references including this one at Digger History...

In WW1 Foo was a mythical and mysterious little "man" who turned up nearly everywhere (especially where there was a bit of nonsense going on).

He was shown (usually) as a little bald headed man peering over a stone wall, with the simple inscription "Foo was here".

Link?

Link?

Who is Foo

ORIGINAL: Ike99

Link?

Who is Foo

Your link is an FAQ w/only one source, which just happens to be Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_(graffiti)

And at the top of the Wiki article it states the following:

"This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)"

I suppose that the removal is a slow thing to happen as that site would be barren without unsupported "facts."  

A Wiki entry is only as good as the author who posts it; some of the Wiki entries are excellent and site plenty of references and sources, but this particular one doesn't, and the FAQ that uses it as a reference has no other sources. In fact it conditionally said: "The origin may well date back to World War I and an Australian graffito usually captioned "Foo was here". Even the author isn't sure abt that!

Wiki moderators must have their hands full when a Steven Colbert deliberately goes on Comedy Central and changes an entry abt. George Washington just to prove that he can.

Then there was that incident in the WitP forum after a player called The High Commander was upset re his bomber losses and used a Wiki article to support his claim after he edited it to make sure that it would!

It's the world we now live in, but when a Wiki comes w/a disclaimer, you know you're on thin ice.

Link?

Origins of Foo

ORIGINAL: Ike99

Link?

Origins of Foo

Yes, this link agrees my first Kilroy link and has plenty of references that trace Foo/Kilroy to pre-WWII, not WW I. Apparently the origin of Foo was from a US comic strip:

"It seems, the word `foo' itself had had an immediate pre-war history in comic strips and cartoons.
'The earliest documented uses were in the "Smokey Stover" comic strip published from about 1930 to about 1952. Bill Holman, the author of the strip, filled it with odd jokes and personal contrivances ...'"

Great post. Thanks!