Sure Crystal City You Can Borrow Popeye From Victoria
You may be able to take a selfie with Popeye in the Spinach capital of the world in Crystal City, Texas. However, the Popeye comic made its debut right here in the Victoria Advocate back in 1929, so we win! Just in case you didn't know, the Victoria Advocate is the second oldest newspaper in Texas, behind Galveston's Galveston County Daily News.
Here is a little of the backstory of 'Popeye the Sailor Man'
The Victoria Advocate first published a comic strip originally called 'Thimble Theatre,' which featured a gung-ho sailor, which later became known as Popeye. The Advocate was the first newspaper to buy the comic strip after it went into syndication after its debut on the New York Evening Journal
Popeye creator, Elzie Crisler Segar's even dubbed Victoria the character’s spiritual hometown since they had first given him a leg up. How cool is That!
So while Crystal City may have erected a statue of Popeye the Sailor Man and is the spinach capital of the world. Victoria is really where it all began for this iconic comic strip.
Here is the famous theme song that most of us know and love.
There are so many awesome things that have happened in our little town of Victoria. I will be sharing some of those stories with you in the near future!