I put Popeye on a bell
Navy. Each ship has a bell. So, years after I finished my little four years, a nostalgic epiphany led to my collecting bells. From flea markets and "antique" (second-hand, JUNK) stores, a few from the internet. Mostly little hand bells about 2" for the bell and maybe 3" for the figurine/handle. Not expensive, most of them $7 or less. Occasionally a $15 job that can't be let gotten away. Mostly brass bells. A couple of iron gate bells. One big "ranch" bell. Some odd things have turned up: "Tiffany" style handles of a lampshade, a butterfly, a sun - "stained glass" design. How about a clapperless bell?!1 The rest being figurine/handles of deer, roosters, a kangaroo, whatever. A Harley eagle, price $0.50!1
When my collecting became known, a few relatives and friends began giving me one from their vacations. Problem is there's no accounting for taste, and I only like brass/metal and especially ladies gifted me with random GLASS or CERAMIC bells that I didn't want. There's such a thing as re-gifting.
Collecting. A funny thing. I reached a point where I said NO MORE BELLS. But there's always one more that can't be resisted. And then another funny thing, BELLS. You can't really ring them. They have a special status. Some people just won't *stand* for them. A Happy Hour server just about JUMPED OVER THE BAR from hatred of having a bell rung at her for service (am not saying who rang it). Some VFW places have an ad hoc "rule" that if you ring the bell you have to pay a round. And when I rang the big ranch bell for a visitor, my then neighbor came TEARING around from his front yard to the back to see what the Hades was breaking loose. So my bells are mostly silent.
Anyway, as with collecting junk, not everything is keep-able. In recent years, I realized I could remove some figurine I didn't like and somehow screw or wire something more palatable (no, not tasting it). So this brings me to the present: I had some nautical items, a Lone Sailor that I put on a bell, a ship's wheel. Serious stuff. But then it occurred to me, who is the most famous sailor ever - and I don't mean Admiral FARRAGUT, NELSON, or whomever. The answer is: POPEYE. So everything is on the internet, including of whatever size, and there was this little (1 1/2 inch) brass Popeye, that was a brooch of all things. So here it is, with the brooch pin removed and a piece of brass wire tying it to a screw.
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From Wiki: "The Lone Sailor, a 1987 bronze sculpture, is a tribute to all the personnel of the sea services. The sculpture was created by Stanley Bleifeld, for the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C."
Then Olive Oil is the most famous Sex Goddess!
Bluto and Popeye have been punching each other out for years trying to get her!
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