Comic Strip History - Popeye, Spinach, and Popeye Spinach

Popeye the Sailor has had an immense influence on both American culture and world culture, and it would be easy for me to write an entire blog series focused solely all the ways he has done so (just take a look at the list on Wikipedia). I don't plan to write about all of those things, of course, but there are some stand outs that I would like to tackle. I thought it would be best to start with the one thing that everyone who knows anything about Popeye knows that he loves to eat: spinach. It's a well-known fact that when Popeye is in need of a little extra boost to get himself out of a bind, he downs an entire can of spinach, after which he gains superhuman strength. This is how it always goes in the Popeye animated cartoons at least. The theme song even calls attention to this fact, when Popeye sings "I'm strong to the finich cause I eats me spinach." It's quite odd as far as famous elixirs of health go, but it fits with the silliness of the slapstick comedy on display in the…