Olive Oyl, Popeye’s well-known girlfriend, is a character created by EC Segar in 1919. Interestingly, she was created a decade before the sailor later fell in love with her when she gave him a clueless kiss on the cheek.
This character is portrayed as a skinny, shy sailor with long black hair that is bunched up in a way similar to her mother. She came from a family that also had Olive Oil as a last name. She was a great character that the creators wanted to shine a light on; due to the great benefits she gave the cartoon.
At 18, Segar decided to become a cartoonist and studied a WL Evans cartoon course in Cleveland, Ohio. In order to successfully pass this course, Segar had to study at night after his workday. While studying, he was accompanied by a lamp that was illuminated by olive oil. That is why the author wanted to pay tribute to the ingredient that accompanied him during the long, studious evenings that turned him into such a great professional in cartoon design.
A decade later in January 1929, the popularity of the series soared when Segar included Popeye as a secondary character. From there, Olive was put in a supporting role, as the sailor turned into the main character of the series. Olive broke up with Hamgravy, and this character disappeared. This is when a relationship between Olive and Popeye begins. There is no doubt that the spinach that brought so much strength to Popeye and his beloved woman was made with EVOO.