Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

Which meme was created first?

Internet meme or IRL meme?

Either way, it is near impossible to be sure.

i believe the term 'meme' was the first meme. I'm not sure… now that I think about it. But anything before meme wouldn't be 'meme'. Or is it?

Internet meme would have to be Greenoch. I think.
Not that Greenoch has been confirmed yet.

AFAIR, the first media meme is "Kilroy was Here"

It's been around since WW2…

dancing baby was one of the first memes

Greenoch was around in '91.

Resting on the 7th day

Eating and drinking.

Emoticons, which reminds me, can I rewrite that?

http://www.dipity.com/tatercakes/Internet_Memes

Go to the beginning

Grunting as a means of communication.

No Chris, before grunting, there were sign languages !

I still say eating and drinking beats that out.

Before sign language, there were petroglyphs.
Before that, there were smoke signals.
Before that, there were bugles.

Eating and drinking aren't contagious ideas. They're instinctual. Babies know to eat from birth.

I'm going with "walking upright."

New one: Using tools.

I think walking came before tools.

Monkeys use tools.

@Memedude – you're right! The Internets has to be the first Internet meme.

@ norsehorse89

Not the internet. I think Cyberspace, or the internet coke machine.

Fighting and killing?

great thread and great replies! my take on the first meme:

how to start a fire & how to extinguish fire.

Starting fire = using tools? As in using two sticks, haha.

You may use your imagination for extinguishing fires. I don't have one because I'm a girl.

Starting a fire/putting it out, etc. are not memes, but lessons that are learned

Im with Kilroy was Here

Mellow, I'd have to say that yes you have an imagination because you're a guy and there are no girls on the internets.