Fifth Entry: Popeye's surprising scholarly influence

The Riddle of the Frozen Flames, Mary & Thomas Hanshew, 1929, p.179


...have seen the two tough-looking sailormen who descended from the first-class compartment there and stepped on to the tiny platform among one or two others, he would never have dreamed of associating them with the Mr. Headland and his man Dollops who had such a short time ago left the Towers for London.
    Which is just as well, as it happened, for it was with Borkins that Cleek and Dollops were most concerned.  Upon the probability of their friendship with the butler hung the chance of their getting work.  They had left Mr. Narkom to go up to London and keep his eyes open for any clues in the bank robberies case, and had promised to report to him as soon as possible, if there were anything to be gleaned at the factory.  Mr. Narkom had expressed his doubts about it, had told Cleek that he really did not see how any human agency could possibly get Nigel Merriton off, with such appalling evidence to damn him.  And what an electrical factory could have to do with it...!
    "You forget the good Borkin's connection with the affair," returned Cleek, a trifle sharply, "..."and you forget another thing.  And that is, that I have found the man who attempted my life, and mean eventually to come to grips with him.  That is the only reason why I did not speak at the inquest this afternoon.  I am going to bide my time, but I'll have the beggar in the end.  If working for a time at an electrical factory is going to help on matters, then work there I'm going to, and Dollops with me...
    "If there should be need of me, don't forget that I am Bil Jones, sailorman, once of Jamaica, now of the Factory, Saltfeelt.  And stick to the code.  A wire will fetch me.  He hopped out upon the platform...


"...two tough looking sailormen..."


I initially struggled with this passage, nothing really prompting any thoughts.  Just as I was beginning to despair, one of my childhood heroes barged into mind, saving this blog entry and plastering my face with a childish grin.

He's Popeye, the sailor man!

About a year ago I read that the common misconception about the strength imbuing properties of spinach is the result of a typo in some 1870s German report.  Apparently the iron content of this vegetable was printed one spot too far to the right.  Wikipedia disputes this, claiming it an urban myth.  With whom do I place my naive trust, the at times hilarious Cracked.com, or the democratic aggregate knowledge centre, Wikipedia?  In these times of confusion and crisis one can only find answers at the true source of all knowledge.

Just kidding.

Stephen Fry, the greatest repository of information the world has ever known.

On  his enjoyable, amusing and informative program, QI (Quite Interesting), Fry asks his panel (usually consisting of comedians, clever people, actors and the like) which green vegetable has ten times more iron than average.  Spinach is not the correct answer, its adamant and incorrect proposal celebrated with sirens and some small measure of embarrassment for the contestant that voiced the obvious and predictable.  Here it is for you.

OK, so he doesn't actually mention the typo nor the report, our favourite sailor man isn't included at all.  On re-examination of the Wikipedia spinach article, I have noticed that the author has substantiated his claim with a reference:  a PDF from the Internet Journal of Criminology; 'Spinach, Iron and Popeye: Ironic lessons from biochemisty and history on the importance of healthy eating, healthy scepticism and adequate citation. '  Thirty-four pages detailing an articulated research response to our(my) question.  It's actually a decent read.  I now don't really care about the non/existence report now (which the author of this journal article concludes has not been found, but does not deny that it may have existed and may still materialize), being much more impressed with my forgotten hero Popeye and his capacity to prompt academic investigation and scholarly rumination.

I always thought it would be Optimus.