| Ham Gravy | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real name |
Harold Hamgravy |
|
First appearance |
Syndicated comic strip The Thimble Theatre (19 December 1919) |
|
Original publisher |
King Features Syndicate |
|
Created by |
E. C. Segar |
Origin[]
Harold Hamgravy was the original protagonist of the Thimble Theatre comic strip. He was the first boyfriend of Olive Oyl and friend to Olive's brother Castor Oyl.
During the 1919 comics, Ham Gravy was depicted as an actor performing different roles. Later on he would try to save Olive from the clutches of Willie Wormwood or get into get rich quick schemes with Castor Oyl.
Castor, accompanied by Ham, hired the then-unknown sailor Popeye to man his ship for a voyage. Intended as a minor supporting character, Popeye proved so popular with readers that he was made a permanent member of the main cast by August 1929, midway through another storyline focusing on Ham and Olive's volatile relationship.
As Popeye's role expanded, Ham was increasingly phased out of the comic, thereby vanishing from the daily strip as a speaking regular in October 1929 (mere weeks following Popeye's promotion to lead).
Public Domain Comic Strip Appearances[]
- Thimble Theater (1919–1929)
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- All the Funny Folks (1926)
Notes[]
- In the early days, Thimble Theatre would have a description at the top indicating what role Ham Gravy, Olive Oyl, and others would be playing. For example, in the January 2, 1920 comic, Ham and Olive portrayed a married couple while in the December 31, 1919 comic, they were cast as siblings. Once the concept of the characters playing different roles was dropped, Ham was just simply Olive's boyfriend.