# Another Popeye Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746 "2007-12-31T00:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/1 "2007-12-31T00:09:29Z")
Was Popeye The Sailor Man– [ul] [li]Navy[/li][li]Merchant Marine[/li][li]Coast Guard (some of his B&W cartoons show him in a CG similar uniform)[/li][li]Or a fisherman?[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/2 "2007-12-31T00:28:29Z")
Pretty much “all of the above,” according to item #16 in this [Popeye FAQ](http://www.mtcnet.net/~bierly/popfaq.htm). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/3 "2007-12-31T00:29:06Z")
I’m going for Navy, as his normal dress looks like Winter Working blues, and I know I’ve seen both him and Bluto in Summer Whites on occasion. The obvious differences are the result of artistic license… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/4 "2007-12-31T04:05:05Z")
Popeye originally wasn’t in any branch of service - he was a privately employed sailor. Popeye made his first appearance in 1929 in the comic strip Thimble Theater when Castor Oyl (Olive’s brother) hired Popeye to be the entire crew of a ship to take Castor and his pals to Dice Island. In those days Popeye didn’t wear a military uniform. When World War II came his portrayal in movies changed - he wore a uniform and from that point on was usually shown as being in the navy. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/5 "2008-01-01T02:02:36Z")
After (presumably) working aboard merchant vessels from boyhood on, by the time the Oyls met him he was self-employed. In fact from his various adventures he became quite wealthy; first owning his own ship, then eventually trying several different businesses ashore after he and Olive became a serious item. He served with merit in the Navy during WW2 (but I’ve never heard definitively which theater), and proudly wore his whites for years afterwards. He hasn’t had to work as a sailor for decades but still loves the sea, and he and Olive travel around the globe quite frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/6 "2008-01-01T13:25:10Z")
He worked as a waiter for a while, until he found the forty thieves’ treasure cave. He’s probably still living off that haul. Plus he’s got all of Sinbad the Sailor’s loot. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/7 "2008-01-01T13:39:03Z")
Sadly, he is back in rehab for his lifelong addiction to spinach. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/8 "2008-01-01T15:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] He worked as a waiter for a while, [/QUOTE] I misread that at first as “whaler”. He tried whaling exactly once, but was too softhearted to kill a mother whale with a calf. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/9 "2008-01-03T05:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] I misread that at first as “whaler”. He tried whaling exactly once, but was too softhearted to kill a mother whale with a calf. [/QUOTE] In his more callow youth he would, however, deal a mature whale a seismic blow with his fist, causing the whale to spontaneously fragment into dozens of pre-canned sardines. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/10 "2008-01-03T10:58:19Z")
[QUOTE=Nonsuch] In his more callow youth he would, however, deal a mature whale a seismic blow with his fist, causing the whale to spontaneously fragment into dozens of pre-canned sardines. [/QUOTE] This brings the question of Popeye vs. Chuck Norris. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/11 "2008-01-03T13:01:40Z")
Popeye won the sailor suit in a poker game with Donald Duck. Where he got the pants is unknown; rumors that they were originally the property of Harold Hamgravy (missing, presumed deceased) remain unsubstantiated. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/12 "2008-01-03T13:37:44Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] This brings the question of Popeye vs. Chuck Norris. 😃 [/QUOTE] Popeye. No contesk. (An’ if you havvint alreddy, be sure ta buy Warner Home Video’s collekshun of Popeye cartoons an’ Fantagraphics’s two volumes of the Segar strips. You won’t be diskappointed.) ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/13 "2008-01-16T21:12:37Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] Popeye. No contesk. (An’ if you havvint alreddy, be sure ta buy Warner Home Video’s collekshun of Popeye cartoons an’ Fantagraphics’s two volumes of the Segar strips. You won’t be diskappointed.) [/QUOTE] I’d agree with that…in college I found a huge hard cover book of old Segar Popeye strips. I loved it. I remember wanting to actually buy it from the library, but of course it wasn’t for sale. I wish they still made whimsical adventures like that for ol’ Popeye. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/14 "2008-01-16T21:22:02Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] You won’t be diskappointed. [/QUOTE] Pun or dialect? _You_ make the call. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/15 "2008-01-16T21:37:06Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] This brings the question of Popeye vs. Chuck Norris. 😃 [/QUOTE] Once Popeye got into a fight with Mario. The power of spinach and the power of mushrooms. Several Multiverses were laid to waste. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/16 "2008-01-16T21:56:59Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] Once Popeye got into a fight with Mario. The power of spinach and the power of mushrooms. Several Multiverses were laid to waste. 😉 [/QUOTE] Lettuce know how it turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/17 "2008-01-16T22:28:27Z")
[QUOTE=Jolly Roger] I’d agree with that…in college I found a huge hard cover book of old Segar Popeye strips. I loved it. I remember wanting to actually buy it from the library, but of course it wasn’t for sale. I wish they still made whimsical adventures like that for ol’ Popeye. [/QUOTE] So? Go hunt online, then buy em. You _can_, ya knowsk! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-popeye-question/431746/18 "2008-01-16T23:14:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] So? Go hunt online, then buy em. You _can_, ya knowsk! 😃 [/QUOTE] Rather than look for the out of print ones, I suggest Fantagraphic’s two new volumes- _I Yam What I Yam_ and _Blow Me Down_. I’ve never seen Fantagraphic’s original Popeye books, but based on what I’ve read, these ones improve upon them by having dailys and Sundays in one book (plus Segar’s Sunday topper _Sappo_ as an extra bonus) and also starting the Popeye chronology a bit earlier with more of the pre-Popeye whiffle hen story (which is almost like a Road Runner cartoon 20 years before there were Road Runner cartoons.) > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Pun or dialect? You make the call. I didn’t mean it as a pun, but it’s a good one, since those disks _don’t_ diskappoint. A-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!