Thimble Theatre 頂針劇院 シンブル・シアター

Thimble Theatre is a classic American comic strip created by E.C. Segar that debuted in December 1919. Originally a showcase for Olive Oyl and her boyfriend Ham Gravy, it introduced Popeye the Sailor in 1929. Popeye became so wildly popular that he took over the storyline, and the comic was later retitled Popeye. 

Thimble Theatre began as a theatrical-themed comic strip where characters acted out different dramatic stories. Popeye was originally hired by Olive Oyl's brother, Castor Oyl, and Ham Gravy to crew a ship on January 17, 1929. His immediate popularity transformed the strip. The strip introduced a massive roster of legendary characters, including J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Bluto, and the magical, dimension-hopping Jeep.

After E.C. Segar passed away in 1938, the strip was continued by other artists, most notably Bud Sagendorf. The Sunday strips are still published, while daily papers run classic reruns. 

Frank "Rocky" Fiegel (January 27, 1868 - March 24, 1947) was a real-life person from E. C. Segar's home town of Chester, Illinois who (like J. William Schuchert and Dora Paskel) inspired a Thimble Theatre character. In this case, Popeye.

Frank, a tough laborer of Polish descent from Chester, Illinois, was always getting into fights. Some say he was a professional boxer. However, he also gave out candy and treats to children, including E.C. Segar, who remembered Fiegel when he created Popeye. Fiegel was described as "just like the fictional spinach-loving mariner ... a one-eyed, pipe-smoking curmudgeon with a jutting chin. He lived with his mother in a house near the Evergreen Cemetery, and was described as ‘tall, strong, always ready for a fight and always a winner.'”

The photo series Thimble Theatre is my fanart version of AI assisted photography to pay tribute to one my favourite cartoon comic strips. I re-imagined the characters to what they would have been in the early 1930s and kept the background simple.