@lostmexicanamerica: Crystal City, Texas: the Popeye statue and the spinach workers, 1937 In 1937, Crystal City, Texas, put up a statue of Popeye the Sailor. The town called itself the Spinach Capital of the World. It held its first Spinach Festival in 1936. Few visitors asked who cut the spinach. Mexican and Mexican American families did. A 1941 government report said about 97 percent of the town's Mexican Americans were migrant workers. Their year ran in a circle. They cut spinach in winter and onions in spring. Then came beets or cotton. Most lived in slums, with little schooling. Popeye first appeared in 1929, and the sailor had strong arms. The real strength came from the families who followed the harvest. Crystal City built a statue for a cartoon sailor. Real families cut the spinach. Did your family follow a harvest, and where did it lead? #TexasHistory #MigrantWorkers #CrystalCity #MexicanAmericanHistory #LostMexicanAmerica

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Tuesday 20 October 2026 01:18:51 GMT