Okla-homey
3/26/2007, 05:54 AM
Mar 26, 1937: Popeye monument unveiled
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/11270/2005130178240475741_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005130178240475741)
70 years ago on this day, Crystal City, Texas, unveils America's first monument to a comic strip hero. The six-foot-tall, brightly colored concrete statue of Popeye was unveiled in Popeye Park during the city's second annual Spinach Festival.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12413/2005109870023355388_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005109870023355388)
1941 photo of Popeye Monument, before construction of Crystal City town hall on the site
Within eight years of his appearance in the newspapers, Popeye was immortalized in the small town only 50 miles from the Mexican border, Crystal City.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12413/2005198158446568644_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005198158446568644)
But why Crystal City, where you would think cowboys would be more popular than sailors, the closest port being Corpus Christi? The one-word answer is spinach.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/11574/2005152237883658821_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005152237883658821)
Popeye, as any Baby Boomer or older knows, drew his strength from spinach. So, too, does the Crystal City economy. Thanks to ample underground water, its sandy soil, and abundant cheap labor, Crystal City produces 80 percent or more of the nation's spinach crop.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/13299/2005168493445297908_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005168493445297908)
Chicks dig Popeye
That's how Popeye happened to come to Crystal City TX.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/13299/2005107500757886093_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005107500757886093)
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/11270/2005130178240475741_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005130178240475741)
70 years ago on this day, Crystal City, Texas, unveils America's first monument to a comic strip hero. The six-foot-tall, brightly colored concrete statue of Popeye was unveiled in Popeye Park during the city's second annual Spinach Festival.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12413/2005109870023355388_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005109870023355388)
1941 photo of Popeye Monument, before construction of Crystal City town hall on the site
Within eight years of his appearance in the newspapers, Popeye was immortalized in the small town only 50 miles from the Mexican border, Crystal City.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/12413/2005198158446568644_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005198158446568644)
But why Crystal City, where you would think cowboys would be more popular than sailors, the closest port being Corpus Christi? The one-word answer is spinach.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/11574/2005152237883658821_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005152237883658821)
Popeye, as any Baby Boomer or older knows, drew his strength from spinach. So, too, does the Crystal City economy. Thanks to ample underground water, its sandy soil, and abundant cheap labor, Crystal City produces 80 percent or more of the nation's spinach crop.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/13299/2005168493445297908_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005168493445297908)
Chicks dig Popeye
That's how Popeye happened to come to Crystal City TX.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/13299/2005107500757886093_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005107500757886093)