[Lawrence P. Arnold]

Photograph of a man identified as Lawrence P. Arnold. Arnold is wearing a sailor suit and has a pipe in his mouth. He is dressed as Popeye, a newspaper comic strip character, to entertain schoolchildren.

This photograph is part of the collection entitled: Rescuing Texas History, 2009 and was provided by Port Arthur Public Library to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries.

Born in England, Lawrence P. Arnold stowed away on a ship bound for the U.S. when he was 13 years old. That was in 1908. He landed in Port Arthur and became a hunting guide for a slew of well-to-do folks, including John "Bet a Million" Gates. Later, he went to work for the Gulf Oil refinery. In 1930, he had all of his teeth removed. A friend told him that he looked a lot like Popeye, who was just becoming a well-known comic strip character. Lawrence was given a new avocation, appearing as Popeye in parades and other events all over the United States. This is how he looked in 1937, as photographed in Port Arthur.
Courtesy the Port Arthur Public Library via the Portal to Texas History.

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