Kilroy Was Here

"Kilroy was here" is a meme that became popular during World War II, typically seen in graffiti.

Its origin is debated, but it is said that an inspector with the last name of Kilroy would leave the design to show where he had been and what was inspected. During the war, Kilroy worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. His job was to go around and check on the number of rivets completed. 

Riveters were on piece work and got paid by the rivet. Kilroy would count a block of rivets and put a check mark in chalk, so the rivets wouldn’t be counted twice. 

The phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle became associated with GIs in the 1940s: a bald man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall, with his fingers clutching the wall