It's time for lunch. You're still a kid. You asked your mother to prepare a nice plate of spinach for you. Do you want to become strong like Arm wrestling: the most heroic sailor ever. But what if I told you that his strength (actually) came from cannabis?
"What? Impossible", you must have just thought. I understand it. As soon as I found out, I too was stunned. But if you give me a few minutes I'll explain why Popeye "ate" cannabis, and not spinach. Let's go.
Cannabis: Popeye's (real) secret
Born from the genius of Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye (or Pepeye, in the original language) is a seaman known for his supernatural strength.
Strength due precisely to the spinach, which he downed whenever needed. Or at least, that's what they always made us believe. But let's try to broaden the view.
It was the 1920s and 1930s. In the United States the prohibitionism against cannabis was at an all-time high. The powerful of the time had allied themselves to bury this plant with a thousand uses, which was putting their business into a corner.
Just mentioning her in public had become extremely dangerous. But marijuana, despite what they told us, was steeped in the culture of the time.
And this is how code words began to spread to indicate it freely without getting into trouble. Including "spinach".
"Spinach" instead of cannabis: a code name to avoid getting arrested
At the beginning of the 1900s, spinach replaced cannabis in various areas of society, but above all in the world of art and music.
"The Spinach Song (I didn't like it the first time)" by Julia Lee, whose English title is "The Spinach Song (I Didn't Like It The First Time)", is certainly the most famous example.
In fact, the blues singer became famous thanks to "Sweet Marijuana". Song in which he told how this plant helped him alleviate his suffering. But the references to cannabis aren't over.
Like the theory of sailors, who were always traveling to unknown lands, they were the first to introduce the practice of smoking marijuana in America. In fact, Popeye boasted a strong knowledge of exotic plants and herbs from far away.
And again, Popeye's dog was called Birdseed (seeds for birds). And in those days i hemp seeds, rich in nutrients, were also used like birdseed for birds, as well as enriching everyone's tables.
But then isn't Popeye's spinach really cannabis?
A question that was also askedHash Marihuana & Hemp Museum of Amsterdam. Which he finally decided to exhibit a 1935 statuette depicting Popeye while smoking his pipe full of "spinach".
* Instagram profile photo Popeye The Sailor (@popeye)"
