All aboard the Popeye bandwagon

By 1930s standards, this pinback button represents quite an ambitious effort at cross-promotion by the Charlotte News and the Carolina Theatre, not to mention Paramount Pictures and King Features.

Popeye first appeared in newspapers in 1929, on screen in 1933, on fried chicken franchises in 1972 (although the chain claimed it had taken its name from Gene Hackman’s character in “The French Connection”).