Where did the word "jeep" come from?
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Where did the word "jeep" come from?

This word can be written with either a lowercase or a capital letter, which is not the same thing. In the first case, it is the name of any SUV: we still use this today. The second option is Jeep: it is a trademark of a car, officially registered in 1950 by the Willys-Overland company.


However, the word itself began to spread quite a long time ago – back during the First World War. True, its meaning was different: it meant something like “green”, “new”. Moreover, this word could refer to both a young soldier and previously unfamiliar equipment. In general, there are quite a few versions of how the term “jeep” came into use. The most popular (and not so popular) of them are presented below.

Comics


In early 1929, Elsie Segar, who was engaged in drawing cartoons, released her next creation called "Thimble Theater". The comic enjoyed some success, and to consolidate it, 7 years later the author introduced a new character named Eugene Gip. This is an incomprehensible, magical and mysterious animal, similar to both a cat and a dog. He easily passed through walls and across rivers, was very inventive, nimble, small. And often made the sound "g-e-e-p".

Where did the word "jeep" come from?One of the Willys models, the MB, used during the war. Photo: youtube.com

The comic was popular before, during and after World War II. American soldiers, who knew Segar's work well, as well as Eugene Jeep, who "played" in it, called the small vehicles supplied to the army by this word. They had high cross-country ability, maneuverability and small dimensions: just like the main character in the cartoon.

Minneapolis-Moline


This is the company that produced it before the war. tractor, resembling a passenger car in appearance car. Things are going well company were not going very well, and in 1937 it managed to get a reliable source of income - a military order. The tractors produced by the enterprise were successfully used in the American army as tractors. They hauled not only guns, but also heavy bombers at military airfields.

Minneapolis-Moline tractors could pull both plows and cannons. Photo: youtube.com

The tractor, despite its good power qualities, was small and maneuverable, i.e. nimble. In addition, it was a new, previously unknown to soldiers technique. They began to call it a "jeep". The company knew about this, but somehow did not think to patent the name.

Willys


In the summer of 1940, the US Department of Defense announced a competition to create a small, lightweight car. It had to be durable, easy to maintain, easy to repair, and cheap to produce.

The requirement of the state order – simplicity and cheapness – was strictly observed. Photo: youtube.com

The first to respond was Bantam, which presented its prototype for testing. Later, the same was done by Willys (the four-wheel drive car was called Quad) and Ford with its Model GP (General Purpose).

After the war, the American Bantam Car Company sued Willys for the Jeep trademark, but lost the case.

According to one version, the word "jeep" arose from the abbreviation applied to Ford models. One of them is GPW: each letter has its own meaning: Government Issue, Passenger, and Willys Blueprint.

Model Ford GPW. Photo: youtube.com

As they say, advertising is the engine of trade. And Americans, perhaps, understand this better than anyone. In February 1941, Willys-Overland organized a whole show to promote its product. Its new model of car drove right up the steps almost to the Capitol itself. Lawmakers expressed a desire to ride in the car, which was done.

Senators ride in a jeep. Photo: youtube.com

One of the ubiquitous journalists (Katherine Hillier) interviewed the driver and asked what the vehicle was called. Willie Irving, who was driving, didn't know, but he had heard soldiers call the vehicle a jeep. He told the journalist so. Photos appeared in all the newspapers, which helped popularize the word for small, maneuverable vehicles with high cross-country ability.

The further fate of the trademark


In 1953, Willys was bought by Kaiser (called Kaiser-Jeep in 1963), in 1970 by AMC, and in 1987 by Chrysler. We won’t bore the reader with the succession of changes of owners and will report the final result. Today, Jeep is a division of Chrysler LLC.
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