Romance and Hollywood themed magazines were hugely popular at the time of this short. It was well before the advent of television and, eventually, social media.
There is a framed photo of Bluto on Olive's end table, and the note on the chocolate box says, love, Bluto. As Olive informs Popeye, he is her new beau.
One of the few times Olive breaks the fourth wall. She uses a common sight gag, but unlike in other studio shorts, a doctor (in silhouette) does not reply to her request.
Popeye's skull seems to resemble that of an ape.
The huddle of doctors in the operating theater might be a sly wink at the Warner Bros. short The Daffy Doc (1938), released the same year.