01/17/2026
Shiver me timbers! Today marks 97 years of Popeye on the comic strip scene.
How about a few fun facts sure to help you score points at Trivia Night:
💪Popeye is 10 years younger than Olive Oyl!
💪Before spinach became the source of Popeye’s super strength, his power came from rubbing the head of a magical Whiffle Hen named Bernice!
💪Popeye walked on to Olive Oyl's strip, “Thimble Theatre,” as a bit character in 1929 and became so popular the strip was eventually renamed “Popeye.”
💪Popeye has appeared in 1000s of comic strips, over 600 cartoon episodes, and over 100 books since his creation. Today, he has over 9.6 million followers on social media! Popeye is ingrained in pop culture and is one of the most recognizable and beloved cartoon characters in the world.
💪Creator E.C. Segar based Popeye's likeness and gruff personality on a tough, one-eyed, pipe-smoking bar bouncer and former sailor from his hometown of Chester, Illinois, named Frank "Rocky" Fiegel.
💪“I’m strong to da finich ‘cause I eats me spinach!” During the Great Depression, Popeye was credited with a 33% increase in U.S. spinach consumption, as children were encouraged to eat their vegetables to be strong like Popeye.
💪Popeye was the first cartoon character to have a public statue. Crystal City, TX erected a statue in 1937 recognizing Popeye's impact on the spinach industry.
💪The voice actors for Popeye and Olive Oyl married in real life. Jack Mercer, who famously voiced Popeye for 40 years, was married to Margie Hynes, who voiced Olive Oyl between 1938 and 1942.
💪Donkey Kong was almost a Popeye game. The hit arcade game Donkey Kong was originally planned to be a Popeye game, with Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl as the main characters, but Nintendo couldn't acquire the licensing rights at the time.
💪Terms like "wimp" (after the character J. Wellington Wimpy) and the second meaning of "goon" (after the "Goon family" characters) are believed to have been popularized by the Popeye comic strip.
