Jeep In Military Parlance
The word "jeep" already existed in military parlance. It dates back as far as WWI and described an unproven human recruit or an unproven new vehicle. There is evidence it was used this way in the build-up of forces prior to the war and the conception of the 1/4-ton jeep.
Popeye And Eugene-The-Jeep
Eugene-the-Jeep, a character in the
Popeye the Sailor comic strip by E.C. Segar debuted in 1936, was magical in his abilities and became a beloved character. The term "jeep" became known in the civilian world as describing something extraordinary. How Segar found the word and why he used it for the comic strip is still a mystery.
Early nicknames for prototype models were numerous. They included “
bantam,” “
pygmy” and “quad.”
The first known use of the word “jeep” to describe the box-like vehicle appeared in
The Washington Daily News on Feb. 19, 1941.[
1] That’s when Willys officials demonstrated the new scout car’s impressive off-road capabilities to Congress by driving a presentation model right up the steps of the Capitol building (
see picture). In an article covering the spectacle, journalist Katharine Hillyer reported that GIs who had already worked with the new experimental machine had christened it “the jeep.” The name stuck.
Disputed Name
The most often cited explanation is that “jeep” is a derivative of the initials “GP,” which supposedly stand for “general purpose.” Even the Willys’ own wartime president said as much. [
2] Yet skeptics argue that the full acronym “GPW” was only applied to Ford versions of the machine and that the first two letters didn’t stand for “general purpose” at all. The “G” denoted “government,” while the “P” was used only to classify the vehicle’s roughly six-and-a-half foot wheelbase. Incidentally, the third letter, “W,” was in reference to Willys being the original manufacturer. [
3]
Furthermore, the word “jeep” actually pre-dates the famous 4×4 by several years — a fact that all but destroys the widely held GP theory.
In 1936, cartoonist
E.C. Segar’s introduced a magical teleporting dog called “Eugene the Jeep” in his popular
Thimble Theatre comic strip. In fact, the four-legged critter was the pet and sidekick of the famed cartoon sailor Popeye (
here’s an animated short circa 1940 featuring the make-believe canine). Some posit that GIs were probably big fans of the character and appropriated the name for the army’s bouncy new scout car, perhaps because it reminded them of the nimble, trans-dimensional travelling pooch. [
4]
Interestingly, E.C. Segar didn’t even coin the word “jeep.” It had reportedly been floating around U.S. Army motor pools as far back as 1914. [
5] First World War-era doughboys were known to refer to any army utility truck or car by the slang term “jeep.” But why
that word? No one seems to know. Incidentally, “jeep” was also applied to 1930s-era tractors, as well as pre-1941 bombers and even warships [
6] –
small navy escort flattops were dubbed “jeep carriers.”
But with the widespread use of the Willys 4×4 during the Second World War, all other uses of the word jeep soon fell by the wayside.
“The origin of the word ‘jeep’ is still mired in controversy, even 75 years after the first models rolled off assembly lines.” IF HISTORIANS COULD pick a single piece of military hardware to symbolize the whole...
militaryhistorynow.com
and now you know
CW
72 Commando project Jeep.
