From the Annals of Spinach –  In 1937, Spinach growers in Crystal City erected a statue of cartoon character Popeye.  Zavala County was known for its impressive production of spinach – a staple of the combative sailor’s diet and the key to his incredible prowess in besting his nemesis Bluto.  The fiberglass effigy in front of Crystal City Hall shares a secret with museum statuary in Rome, Paris and London – it is a reproduction. To protect Popeye from vandals, the “real” statue stands safely within the walls of the Crystal City Hall. This duplicate is placed as an offering to whatever rival high school might want to defame or insult the Crystal City faithful by defacing the landmark.

The Popeye statue resulted from a contest  to award the contract. Architect Max Sandfield, a native of Lithuania, who had been raised in San Antonio entered and won  the competition.  Sandfield’s entry shows a statue far different from the current one. In his sketch, Mr. Sanfield has Popeye sitting on a can of spinach about the size of a 55-gallon drum with a more-to-scale second can held against his chest, ready to be opened in case of an emergency – or upon the arrival of Bluto.