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First appearance of Popeye
On this day in 1929, Popeye, the Sailor Man, renowned comic-strip
character, first appeared in print. The Victoria Advocate is
credited as the first newspaper in the nation to run Elzie Crisler
Segar's comic strip, originally called "Thimble Theatre," which starred
the spinach-eating hero. Segar (1894-1938) was born in Chester,
Illinois, and worked as a moving-picture machine operator, a house
painter, and a photographer before his first cartoon effort was rejected
by a St. Louis paper. Segar became a popular cartoonist in the 1920s.
Popeye was probably inspired by Frank "Rocky" Feigle of Segar's
hometown. By 1932 Popeye was the undisputed star of "Thimble Theatre,"
as evidenced in fan mail, toys, games, novelties, and jokes. Segar
himself called the Victoria Advocate Popeye's "hometown." In
gratitude he contributed a special cartoon for the Advocate's
historic 1934 anniversary issue. Speaking to the newspaper's editor
through Popeye, Segar wrote, "Please assept me hearties bes' wishes an'
felitcitations on account of yer paper's 88th Anniversity....Victoria is
me ol' home town on account of tha's where I got born'd at." Crystal
City, Texas, also claims a special relationship to Popeye. The spinach
industry credited Popeye and Segar with the 33 percent increase in
spinach consumption from 1931 to 1936, and in 1937 Crystal City, the
"Spinach Capital of the World," erected a statue to honor Segar and his
sailor.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- POPEYE
- CRYSTAL CITY, TX
- SPINACH CULTURE
- VICTORIA ADVOCATE
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- A Connecticut Yankee in Texas (1821)
- Barbara Jordan dies (1996)
- Mexican Federalists declare independence at Laredo convention (1840)
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