FACT! #19

Originally debuting in 1919, Thimble Theater was a fairly popular comic strip of its time; being distributed by Hearst's "King's Features Syndicate." The cast contained Harold Hamgravy, his girlfriend Olive Oyl and her brother Castor Oyl.

The cast had many adventures, meeting numerous people as a result. Though the most important person that they met happened to be a young sailor. In 1929, Castor and Harold were on an adventure as Castor was attempting to concoct another get rich quick scheme (seemingly because investing in the stock market was going to soon be a bad idea) and had to recruit a sailor to travel by boat to their next destination.

With those forearms, I doubt anyone knows exactly what you are, Popeye.

 

The sailor happened to be named, as most of you probably have guessed, Popeye. Starting off as a very minor character, Popeye became a more frequent character in the strip's storyline over the years. This, in turned, help Thimble Theater grow as a whole. Eventually, Harold Hamgravy was replaced by Popeye as Olive Oyl's beau and soon ended up exiting the cast as a regular.

The rest is sort of history. The strip would eventually be renamed "Thimble Theater starring Popeye" and then simply "Popeye." The strip is still carried and drawn today, over 90 years after its initial appearance and Popeye continues to be a very popular character.