'Keep On Truckin,'' The Hippie Slogan R. Crumb Regrets Coining

Left: A 'Keep On Truckin' print currently available from crumbproducts.com. Right: Blind Boy Fuller. Sources: crumbproducts.com; public domain/Wikimedia Commons

The catchphrase "Keep On Truckin,'" ripped from an R. Crumb comic, is one of those hippie slogans you've seen everywhere. But despite its ever-presence, do we really know what it means? It seems to be a pretty simple motivational message akin to keep on keepin' on, or or get 'er done, or hang in there. Whatever you do, don't ask R. Crumb why it caught on -- he's both mystified, and irked by its popularity.

The phrase grew into a cultural phenomenon, without Crumb's consent, and what's more -- it really meant something quite different before Crumb got ahold of it.