KOVELS: ANTIQUES AND COLLECTING
'Kilroy Was Here'
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January 4, 2018
Courtesy Photo
It took only a little over $160 to buy this "Kilroy was here" bank. The 5-inch-high plaster bank was painted red. The bottom had the words "To open, cut hole in bottom." It is a very rare souvenir of the Second World War.
Remember hearing "Kilroy was here"? Kilroy is a famous "doodle" seen during World War II. No one is sure exactly where it began, but in about 1939, the comic man looking over a fence while poking his nose and hands over it with the words "Kilroy was here" started to appear. The doodles were found in strange places where soldiers were stationed. The character may have been inspired by an earlier bit of graffiti used by Australians during World War I with the words "Foo was here." He reappeared in the next war from 1941 to 1945. Kilroy graffiti was found in barracks, inside submarines, and, i...
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