Popeye Shipwreck Game

An early promotional piece for Popeye the Sailor.

Popeye the Sailor Man was created by E. C. Segar and first appeared in a 1929 King Features comic strip that was licensed to newspapers across the country. Within just a few years, the character’s popularity grew to warrant a television show, and Fleischer Studios (a contemporary competitor to Walt Disney) was engaged to create an animated feature.

The first Popeye cartoon aired in 1933 and would remain a mainstay of Paramount Pictures programming for almost the next quarter-century. This fun game board was issued in the cartoon’s first season to promote viewership and it prominently features the title character, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy throughout.

Players advance across the ‘deserted’ island by rolling a dice (not included) and following the instructions on specially marked spaces. The notes are written in crude spelling attempting to Popeye’s simple manner of speech. Exotic animals and stereotypical cannibals are encountered, but fortunately, there’s wild spinach available. Created by the Enson-Freeman Company, Inc. of Long Island City in 1933 on behalf of King Features Syndicate. Distributed by Funland Books and Games.