“Who Me?” Duck Tattoo Reference
Researched & Written by Carmen Nyssen
The “Hey You!”-“Who me?” duck pair has long been a staple in tattooing. And it has an interesting history. This “Who me?” Duck Tattoo Reference post is brought to you courtesy of Jordan Brill’s (@ajordanbrilltattoos) research-worthy inquiry on the subject. Some months ago, Jordan asked if I knew the original reference for the “Hey You!”-“Who me?” ducks. At that point, I knew they came from the World War II era, and I had a few theories of how they might tie into the war (i.e. sailors and boats are referred to as ducks, “Who me?” as a response to the “I Want You” Uncle Sam poster), but I didn’t have concrete documentation. Me being me, I couldn’t help but dig a little deeper. I followed the evidence trail and learned that the duck tattoos definitely relate to the second World War. The “Who me?” duck may have started out as a lone symbol.
Given that Sailor Jerry’s version of the “Who me?” duck is wearing a sailor suit like Donald Duck, my initial thought was that Walt Disney possibly created the original design. During the war, Donald Duck was an extremely popular image—used on airplane nose art, bomber jacket insignia, propaganda posters, propaganda cartoons, and so on. In fact, Disney artists drew prolifically for the war effort. My online search for Donald in the “Who me?” pose, however, didn’t pan out …so I continued chipping away.
Finding the “Who me?” Duck
I was pleasantly surprised by what I soon found—an intriguing post by a member of The PT Boat Forum website about a WWII Torpedo boat.
“Bobpic: PT167 was named “Who me?” and the logo was a duck pointing to himself as though he had just been assigned a dangerous mission. I inherited the role of “PT artist” simply because I had the only set of paints around. I painted logos and icons regularly. I even have the stencil I made for the 167.”
This came up in my search just afterwards: the actual “Who me?” insignia from the front of the PT-167.
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The similarity to the iconic tattoo design was much too close to dismiss as a coincidence. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look into PT-167’s history. Sure enough, that lead to another clue: one of PT-167’s nicknames was the “Ugly Duckling.” That’s when everything started falling into place. As mentioned, not only were sailors referred to as ducks, but so were their ships. WWII military vessels made for function not aesthetic appeal—hardworking vessels typically assigned the most dangerous missions—were called “ugly ducklings.”
Of course, this discovery brought to mind the Hans Christian Anderson story The Ugly Duckling. Interestingly, I came across several English translations of the book in which the swans call out to the ugly duckling “Hey you!” and the duckling responds, “Who me?” But I couldn’t find a correlating “Who me?” duck illustration.
Then I remembered!! Disney made a cartoon short of The Ugly Duckling; it was released in 1939 just at the start of World War II. Thanks to YouTube it took just 4 minutes and seven 7 seconds of viewing to find the suspected reference. At this frame in the cartoon, the poor ugly duckling looks at his reflection in the pond, and saddened by his “ugly” mug (actually distorted by the rippling water), points to himself as if to say, “Who me?”
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So the hunt did bring me back to Disney after all! Although The Ugly Duckling’s Who me?” doesn’t have quite the same meaning, it’s clearly the visual reference for both the “Who me?” tattoo and the “Who me?” insignia on the torpedo boat. Sailor Jerry’s rendition was particularly close to the original.
WWII Ideology in Tattoos
Which came first: the tattoo or the insignia? It’s hard to say. Often, tattoo imagery and historical happenings mutually influence each other and cycle back into each other to the extent that it’s not always possible to make such determinations (not to mention it’s impossible to judge the context).
One thing that’s for certain is during WWII everyone’s attention was on the war. It was seen in every aspect of daily living, including recruiting posters, related propaganda posters, and advertisements for household products. From the get-go, “Hey You!”-“Who me?” was a catchphrase duo—although the “Hey You!” was sometimes merely implied.
As PT-167’s insignia-maker confirmed, “Who me?” is a sailor or soldier’s response to military commands, such as being assigned a dangerous mission …as in a military leader commanding “Hey you! I pick you to go on this dangerous mission,” and the worried sailor or soldier, looking much like the duck, says, “Who me? I’m a mere mortal, an ugly duckling. I’m not qualified for that job.”
The same overtones permeated war propaganda at home …as in the “I Want You” Uncle Sam posters calling for young men to join the military or the “Who me?” posters asking civilians to do their part, with the “You!” or “Hey You!” inferred.
WWII Golden Age of Tattooing
Given the connotations, it’s easy to see why the “Who me?” concept made its way into military insignia and its closely related wartime partner—TATTOOING!
During WWII, the tattoo business experienced one of the biggest booms in history. Record numbers of serviceman and civilians—men and women both—lined-up in front of tattoo shops to have popular patriotic emblems etched on their skin. Sailors and soldiers, who brought designs to ports around the world, became living advertisements—a phenomenon tattoo artists quickly picked up on. Although tried-and-true patriotic designs were still in high demand, many tattoo artists drew inspiration from current sources to create fresh, meaningful designs for clientele.
Servicemen especially took comfort in familiar, iconic symbols of civilian living. Walt Disney capitalized on this dynamic by creating war insignia inspired by Disney characters, and as evidenced by the “Who me?” duck, tattoo artists did the same with tattoo designs.
Whether first a tattoo design or a military insignia, the “Who me?” duck was relevant to servicemen because it succinctly expressed multiple, interrelated sentiments of the day. As often happens with evocative tattoo imagery, it has outlived its original symbolism. Instead of its solemn war connotations, it endures simply as a reminder of days gone by, a design to bring cheer…
…and it makes for a darn cool tattoo!
“Hey You!” Duck Tattoo
The “Hey You!” duck tattoo, with or without the slingshot, is just as classic, a creation of animator Preston Blair that became paired with Disney’s “Who me?” duck.
The combo was based on the whole “Hey You!”-“Who me?” wartime concept. One take is that the “Hey you!” duck is “calling out” the “Who me?” duck …as if at war.
Questions or Comments? Email:
carmennyssen@buzzworthytattoo.com
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