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| 1943 Dodge Weapons Carrier |
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| Jeep in a 1938 artoon |
I just found this interesting letter to the editor in a July 1979 Car and Driver. Sounds like a very plausible explanation and something I would have never guessed! Interestingly, however, the Jeep moniker
had a complex origin. According to one
retired G.I. who was there before WWII began, the Jeep moniker
had complex origins. Ralph R. Balestrrieri recalled that “in much of the regular army and
national guards, the Nickname “Jeep” for the Dodge half-ton weapons carrier
appeared in late 1939 and was in common use beforehte national guards were
called to active duty in September 1940.
The name originated from the animal character Jeep in the cartoon
“Popeye the Sailor.” When the Willys quarter-tons started appearing on the
scene, the media and Pentagon Chairborne Commandos , apparently corrupting “GP,” incorrectly started calling hem
Jeeps. We in the guard and army immediately started calling them “Peeps” because
they were baby 4x4s compared with the Dodge half-tons. (The later, amphibious
version of the quarter-ton Peep naturally became the “Seep.” We were soon overwhelmed
by draftees, and the other services, all of them having been brainwashed into
calling the quarter ton Willys the Jeep. Soon the most die-hard among us had to
change to be understood, or to continue to punish those who would use the wrong
nomenclature until it was understood that you’d better call a quarter-ton a
Peep around that crazy S.O.B. of a sergeant or shavetail. [1]
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