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The Origin of the Word "JEEP"
Excerpts taken from various internet blogs. Other source material from Jim Allen's 1995 article in Fourwheeler Magazine.
The small yellow animal Olive received from her Uncle Ben on March 3, 1936, has proven through the years to be universally the most popular of THIMBLE THEATRE'S menagerie, was introduced to an already beloved Popeye comic strip by E.C. Segar. We may have him to thank for help in bringing the "jeep" phrase to every home in America on Sunday morning. Eugene the Jeep was a departure from Segar's usual creatures. Most of the side beasts were anything but pleasant in physical appearance. Added as heavies, their purpose was to challenge Popeye and put fear in the hearts of readers. For some of you too young to remember, Eugene is about the size of a dog, he walks on his hind legs, subsides strictly on orchids and is a native of Africa. Eugene represents the origins of the word "JEEP", and is a favorite character in many old Popeye cartoons. | |
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But What About the Vehicle? How did it get the name Jeep?
Although Jeep vehicles are now a Chrysler trademark, the word "Jeep" has slipped into our everyday vocabulary. When spoken, it creates an image that everyone understands. Much has been written on the origins of the vehicle we now know as the Jeep. How it actually came to earn the name "Jeep," and the other vehicles that for a time carried the same name, is a fascinating tale. Legal controversy over the rights to Jeep raged through the 1940s ... and the fallout continues even today. But in the end, overwhelming public opinion was probably the deciding factor, and the truck - a 1/4ton General Purpose 4x4 became forever the Jeep. But it wasn't always so.
The first coinage of the word "Jeep," as applied to a motor vehicle, occurred during WWI. According to Major E.P. Hogan, who wrote a history of the development of the Jeep for the Army's Quartermaster Review in 1941, the word predated the controversy. "Jeep," he wrote, "is an old Army greasemonkey term that dates back to the last war (World War 1) and was used by shop mechanics in referring to any new motor vehicle received for a test." The word also found use in those days as a less than complimentary term for new recruits. Jeep was still used in Army motor pools well into the 1930s when the next incarnation appeared and became the inspiration for many more Jeeps. In March of 1936 when Eugene the Jeep was introduced, the general public became so enamored of the character that his name quickly entered the slang vocabulary of the day. An average comment on an extremely capable person or thing might be, "Hey, he's a real Jeep!"
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The MH Jeep
Next comes the Jeep that was never called a "Jeep" but was later regarded as the "Granddaddy" of all Jeeps. Since 1932, the MarmonHerrington Company had built a reputation for its 4x4 conversions of 1 1/2 ton (and larger) trucks. In July 1936, because of an obvious military need and a request from the Belgian Government, MH focused on crossing the yet untried waters of the light 4x4 truck market. They converted a V8 powered 1/2 ton Ford truck by installing a driving front axle and transfer case. With this conversion, the era of the light duty 4x4 truck began. The prototype has been widely referred to as the "Darling" but the MH employees who were there remember no such nickname. It isn't clear exactly why the MarmonHerrington truck was never nicknamed "Jeep." (Eugene had been around for a few months, but perhaps the MH engineers never read the comics.)
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The FWD Jeep
Later in 1936, Eugene's popularity was highlighted when the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company used the name "Jeep" for a custombuilt exploration/survey vehicle. Built by the FWD Corporation to Halliburton specs, the truck was a converted 1935 or '36 model. Like all FWDs, it was an allterrain rig but differed from the standard cargo truck by having a vantype body. The truck had "Jeep" painted on both sides and was once used in advertising. King Features Syndicate, which owned the copyrights to Popeye and Eugene, probably took exception Halliburton soon discontinued official use of the name.They did, however, exhibit a vehicle at the International Petroleum Exhibition in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1938, that had an animal caricature painted on the side that looked suspiciously like Eugene. It was in fact a coati, a raccoonlike South American jungle creature. It may have been Halliburton's way of good naturedly thumbing its nose at King Features. |
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The YB17 Jeep Bomber
This brings us to 1937 and another Jeep. According to test pilot Col. G.F. Johnson, U.S. Army Air Corps, the prototype YB17 bomber was nicknamed "Jeep" because of its sterling performance. The YB 17 was the predecessor to the heralded Boeing B17 "Flying Fortress" bomber of World War II. This name eventually fell into disfavour because Eugene the Jeep was a little critter and the YB 17 was big by comparison. Gen. H.F. Gregory, the Army Air Corps' first helicopter pilot, said the Jeep name was used for another, smaller, aircraft, with the official of Popeye's publisher. Had this experimental autogyro, a predecessor to the helicopter, gone into production, it would have officially worn the name "Jeep". While testing these amazing Kellett autogyros at WrightPatterson Airfield in Ohio in the late 1930s, Gregory and his fellow test pilots were called "The Jeep Salesmen." |
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The MM-UTX Jeep
The next version of the Jeep takes us to Camp Ripley, Minnesota, home of the 109th Ordnance Company, Minnesota National Guard. Captain Martin Schiska commanded the 109th, as well as being an employee of the Minneapolis Moline Power Implement Company, builder of farm tractors. In the mid 1930s, the Army was still using ancient, hulking 1917 Holt 5ton tractors to pull its larger field pieces. Schiska, a World War I veteran, realized the need for new equipment and impressed this upon MinneapolisMoline. As early as 1938 (some sources say 1937) MM was building and testing prototype prime movers, and in August of 1940, during testing at Camp Ripley, Sergeant James T. O'Brien is quoted by several sources to have applied the name "Jeep" to the MM prime mover. In a letter to Minneapolis Moline dated March 31,1943, O'Brien explained how the name came about. "One evening," he wrote, "in a gathering of enlisted men, it was suggested that a short descriptive name be found for these vehicles, such names as 'alligator' and 'swamp rabbit.' I brought forth the name 'Jeep' as a result of reading Popeye in which Eugene the Jeep appears as a character, and the fact that these vehicles would go where you would least expect them to go. The name was unanimously accepted and subsequently painted on the vehicles, which have since become familiarly known." The MM Model UTX was a real piece of hardware. Basically a converted farm tractor, the MM Jeep featured fourwheel drive and a 425cid, 70hp (at 1,275 rpm) sixcylinder gasoline engine. It could pull a 5ton 155mm howitzer at 28 mph, with occasional spurts up to 40 mph, and had a fording depth of over three feet. The MM Jeep prototypes came in open and closedcab models. Two of the four tested at Camp Ripley mounted .30 cal machine guns. All models featured a roller device in place of a front bumper, enabling it to cross large obstacles. Some also mounted winches. During testing at the Fourth Army maneuvers in August 1940, the MM Jeep was photographed climbing six feet up an oak tree. (The tree gave up at that point, and the tractor crushed it into matchsticks. So much for Treading Lightly!) The tractor was also said to have "walked" through a forest of 5inch trees. These photos appeared in the Army Times (Sept. 14, 1940) in an article entitled "Army Likes Jeep." The MM Jeep performed well in a succession of tests, but the Army's requirements seemed to change by the day. Before the UTX ever went into production, the evolution towards larger and larger field pieces and the requirement for a relatively high road speed ultimately overwhelmed the UTX's capacities. A total of six were built, and one survives in a private collection. |
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The DODGE "Jeep"
Even though the UTX never saw service, once the proper niche was found, more than a thousand upgraded units were eventually produced in several versions that included a 6x6. MM designs saw service with all branches of the military during World War II and after. Ironically, the Molines found their ultimate niche as aircraft tractors, but even as late as 1943 newspaper headlines still referred to them as Jeeps. "Jeep Helps Save Lives of War Heroes" was the headline of one '43 news story, describing a photo of a MinneapolisMoline NTX tractor and a tale of strafed, burning aircraft being towed off a runway so a group of outof fuel fighters could land.
In 1940, several more "Jeeps"emerged. In the fall of 1939 and spring of 1940, Army units were issued a series of new vehicles that became popular with the troops. The T202 and T207 Dodge 1/2ton 4x4 trucks came in several configurations. The Command Car version, officially designated C&R (Command and Reconnaissance), was the opentopped fourby that was most often called a Jeep. The same basic chassis also came in Pickup, Weapons Carrier, and Carryall body styles. These trucks proved to be very good performers, and it wasn't long before GIs all over began to refer to the common Dodges as "Jeeps" for the same reasons as the MM. This name stuck through the evolution of the 1/2ton Dodge until it was replaced by the more commonly known 3/4tons in mid '42. As late as 1943, some troops were still calling the Dodges "Jeeps." The later Dodges began to be known more or less officially as "Beeps," short for "Big Jeeps." |
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