Popeye characters inspired by hometown folks

Charleston Post & Courier ^ | 1/17/2003 | Associated Press

[mass55th]

CHESTER, ILL.--Before Popeye the Sailor, Olive Oyl and Wimpy were the stars of a beloved comic strip, they walked the streets of this little town where their creator grew up.

Popeye's real-life alter ego, according to locals, was Frank Fiegel, a one-eyed, pipe-smoking man with a penchant for fistfights. Dora Paskel was unusually tall and thin and wore a bun at the nape of her neck. And theater owner J. William Schuchert so loved hamburgers that he would send his employees out between performances to buy them.

Popeye made his debut in the funny pages 75 years ago, walking onto Elzie Segar's "Thimble Theatre" comic strip Jan. 17, 1929. The colorful locals from Segar's hometown had evolved into a pipe-tooting, spinach-chomping hero, the "goil" he was always rushing to save from danger and a man with a paunch to prove his passion for burgers.

In honor of the 75th anniversary, New York's Empire State Building will shine its lights spinach-green this weekend. A 3-D animated movie will air before Christmas on Fox. And Chester, population 5,200, will hold its annual picnic for Popeye fans after Labor Day.

All for a character who humbly declares, "I yam what I yam," and who got his start when Segar cast his eyes around his hometown about 60 miles from St. Louis.

Locals say they don't know if Segar ever acknowledged his inspiration, but they attribute that to his death nine years after Popeye's debut. Around town, it just seems obvious that Popeye, Wimpy and Olive Oyl got their start in Chester -- especially when you look at pictures of Fiegel's jutting chin, wiry frame and ever-present pipe.

"This is the folklore of Chester and you've got to listen to it," said Laurie Randall, who runs a Popeye museum in town.

Ernie Schuchert, 75, has spent his entire life in Chester, and remembers finding Fiegel kind of creepy when he would pass the one-eyed man on his way to school.

"He'd sit on a stoop outside his house, which was really dilapidated," Schuchert said. "I don't know that he ever knew he was Popeye."

Fiegel was a little guy like Popeye, Schuchert said, but without the dash of sweetness in his swagger. He would often get into fights at Wiebusch's tavern, and he didn't lose many.

Schuchert's great-great-uncle, J. William Schuchert, hired Segar to run the lights in his Chester Opera House, a job that helped Segar pay for a correspondence course in drawing.

The elder Schuchert would send Segar and the other boys who worked for him around the corner to Wiebusch's to buy hamburgers between performances, Schuchert said. Like Wimpy, he was on the roly-poly side.

Dora Paskel looked like the character she inspired, but was otherwise unlike the daffy-yet-devoted Olive Oyl.

Children would watch her long, shadowy figure behind the counter at the general store she owned, but they would seldom go in, Schuchert said. And she would seldom come out. "We were kind of scared of her," he said.

Segar did not visit Chester much after he left in the early 1920s.

By the time he died in 1938, Popeye was appearing in more than 500 newspapers.

[mass55th]

Fox & Friends had a Popeye impersonator on yesterday morning. He was very good. Seems to me that Segar must have met Hillary a couple of times. How else would he come up with his Sea Hag character?

[mass55th]

Here's a link to another series of articles on the Popeye anniversary:

Click Here

[Brian Mosely]

Frank "Rocky" Fiegel

[Bogey78O]

http://www.everwonder.com/david/popeye/based.html

[Elliott Jackalope]

Here's another link with pictures of the people mentioned in this article.

http://www.everwonder.com/david/popeye/based.html

[Elliott Jackalope]

Aw heck, you beat me to it. Shoot.

[skinkinthegrass]

...the camera lens will never show Shrillary's truly EVIL face/visage.

[Mears]

Can Popeye be showed smoking any more? I read someplace that it is not allowed-----for the children,you know.

[Chris Tucker]

[Gabz]

it wouldn't surprise me, but I don't know the answer.

[Reagan Man]

As a kid, Popeye was my favorite TV cartoon. Warner Bros. cartoons were good and the Disney animations were okay. But Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy had real character and they were fun to watch. Still are too!

[mass55th]

I'm with you when it comes to Popeye. I grew up in the 50's, and although Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Mighty Mouse were some of my favorite cartoons, there's nobody like Popeye. On certain Saturdays during the year, the local movie theater would have cartoon jamborees and you could sit for what seemed like hours and watch your favorite cartoon characters on the big screen. It was great!

[Ronin]

God, I loved the old Popeyes cartoons. I have a secret collection of the wartime favorites. Popeye will always be my hero.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Popeye was fun but it never got me to eat spinach. The cartoon helped the hamburg business more than anything.

[Reagan Man]

Max Fleischer's creations from the 1940`s-50`s will never die. Along with Popeye, Fleischer and his brother Dave were responsible for Koko the Clown, Betty Boop and the Superman cartoons from the 1940`s.

[SheLion]

Can Popeye be showed smoking any more? I read someplace that it is not allowed-----for the children,you know.

I'm not sure about POpeye, but I know I watch the Whoopi show, and she smokes up a storm on her half hour sitcom!

[SheLion]

Anyone hear about this???

[MeekOneGOP]

Interesting article. I had no idea. Thanks for the post and ping !

Ak! ka! ka! ka! ka! ka! ka! ka! ka!

[VermiciousKnid]

It's not possible for a man this old to be a smoker.

Is it?

Regards,

PS: If that man ISN'T the inspiration for Popeye, I'd hate to see the one who IS.

[eastforker]

This is the town I grew up in and went to school. I left in the early 70's and have only been back once for my dads funeral. Lots of history in that little town and many little towns throughout the midwest.But, I am so glad I don't live there anymore.