| Harry Hardegg | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Harry "Roundsteak" Hardegg |
|
First appearance |
Syndicated comic strip The Thimble Theatre (December 27, 1919) |
|
Original publisher |
King Features Syndicate |
|
Created by |
E. C. Segar |
Origin[]
Harry Hardegg played the tough guy Roundsteak in The Thimble Theatre (December 27, 1919) comic strip and later reappears in several 1920 Thimble Theatre strips as a rival to Ham Gravy for Olive's affection much like Bluto would be to Popeye in later stories.
In the strip he was the sweety of Olive Oyl. This attracted the attention of Willie Wormwwood who wanted Olive for himself. Willie tried to stab Harry with a sword and then shoot him with a pistol with no effect. Eventually it took 394 men to capture Harry Hardegg which Willie orders to take Harry to the sawmill.
At the sawmill, Harry is tied down to be sliced in half by the saw blade. Just then the constable arrived who was also the owner of the sawmill and placed Willie under arrest, but not for murder instead for busting the saw blade. Harry Hardegg is shown to have escaped unharmed with Olive on his arm.
On 02-09-1920, Olive tells Ham Gravy to go tell the brute who flirted with her a "big bold man" but when Ham confronts him the brute tells Ham to watch his step since he is a big bold man. Ham then returned to Olive and told her he already know so no point in telling him.
In his next appearance on 02-12-1920, Hardegg steps on Ham Gravy's foot and when Ham speaks up Hardegg threatened to bust him up. Ham then asked Hardegg if he would hit a lady and he replied no. So Ham then asked Olive to call the brute a low-down bum which caused Hardegg to fall over in surprise.
On 02-16-1920, Ham Gravy calls Hardegg a Bum for flirting with Olive Oyl. Hardegg then changed the subject and began to tell the story of a man who had two broken legs, 23 broken ribs, and a broken neck who was saved by his doctors. Ham asked if the man was in a train wreck, but Hardegg replied no that the man had called him a bum.
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- The Thimble Theatre (December 27, 1919; February 09, 12, 16, 1920)
Notes[]
- Comics historian Bill Blackbeard has described Harry Hardegg as a "prototype" for Popeye.
- In the early days, Thimble Theatre would have a description at the top indicating what role Ham Gravy, Winnie Woogie, Brutus, 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.