| Revision as of 09:48, 16 September 2007 editSmackBot (talk | contribs)3,734,324 edits Date/fix the maintenance tags or gen fixes← Previous edit | Revision as of 01:41, 4 October 2007 edit undoGracenotes (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers18,359 edits move reference tags to the top. consolidate; merge British and Americans versions into see also section. Remove Clem and Overby, as derivatives of Kilroy, and are more suited in that articleNext edit → | ||
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| '''Foo was here''' is an Australian ] signature of ], especially known for its use during ], but also became popular amongst Australian schoolchildren of post-war generations. | '''Foo was here''' is an Australian ] signature of ], especially known for its use during ], but also became popular amongst Australian schoolchildren of post-war generations. | ||
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| It has been claimed that Foo probably came from the ] for ], but this is likely to be a ]. | It has been claimed that Foo probably came from the ] for ], but this is likely to be a ]. | ||
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==See also== | ||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| Another version of this graffiti signature is "Kilroy was here", with its origin in the USA during World War II. | |||
| ===Other versions=== | |||
| There was a Canadian version named "Clem", and - in the late 1960s - there was a version called "Overby" in the city of Los Angeles. | |||
| The British version was usually called ]. | |||
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Revision as of 01:41, 4 October 2007
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Foo was here is an Australian graffiti signature of popular culture, especially known for its use during World War II, but also became popular amongst Australian schoolchildren of post-war generations.
Foo is shown as a bald headed man (sometimes depicted with a few hairs) peering over a wall (usually with the fingers of both hands appearing to clutch over the wall as well), with the simple inscription "Foo was here".
Origins
While its exact origins are unknown, the "Foo was here" graffiti is said to have been widely used by Australians during World War I, and was later also widely used during World War II.
One source says of Foo that "He was chalked on the side of railway carriages, appeared in probably every camp that the 1st AIF served in and generally made his presence felt". If this is the case, then "Foo was here" pre-dates the American version of World War II by about twenty years.
It has been claimed that Foo probably came from the acronym for Forward Observation Officer, but this is likely to be a backronym.