A Superb Vintage Polychrome Painted Fairground/Seaside Popeye & Olive Oyl Photo Board c.1960

Origin: English
Period: Mid Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1950-70
Open:
Height: 72 inches
Depth: 1.25 inches
Width: 71 inches

Providing a generous double scoop of the traditional British seaside and flamboyantly hand painted, the hinged wooden seaside cut out photo board with swinging supports depicting Popeye the sailor man and his sweetheart Olive Oyl with love hearts to the center and Swee’Pea pointing toward the love struck couple, survives from the third quarter of the twentieth century, the face cutouts having hinged faces (if only one person is being photographed).

Condition wise the paint is still vivid, with some areas more distressed than others, there are no structural cracks or flaws. The hinges are later replacements and the side supports are also more recently installed.

In many respects, the 'fifties, 'sixties and early 'seventies were the golden age of the British seaside holiday. Visitor numbers were at their highest and widespread car ownership meant a trip to the seaside was well within reach for most people. The popular holiday destinations were colourful, exciting, bustling places crammed with entertainment and amusements of all kinds and that’s without the untold joys of the seashore with its sandy beaches, rock pools, bathing, donkey rides and Punch and Judy. This photo board was part of that very colourful mesh of Britishness.

Buff sailor-man Popeye has arrived in an awkward seaside town called Sweet Haven; the question is, who’s up for being Olive Oyl?