'Bosco' (Strength & Health magazine, December 1956).
Harry B. Paschall was an American bodybuilder and advertising agent, who also wrote articles for the physical strength monthly Strength and Health. For that same publication, he created a long-running comic strip, 'Bosco' (1936-1957), about a German bodybuilder.
Life and career
According to his World War I draft card, Harry Barton Paschall was born in Ashley, Ohio on 27 November 1896, but as Alex Jay from the Stripper's Guide blog noticed, Paschall's notification on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census claims he was born on 27 November 1897. He was the son of a machine salesman from Marion, Ohio. In high school, he made cartoons for the Marion High School paper. After graduation, Paschall moved to Dayton, Ohio and served during World War I. He worked as an artist at the Pyramid Film company in Dayton and, from 19 December 1921 on, he published his first newspaper comic 'Everything's Up to Ma' in the women's section of The Daily Star, a paper published in the Long Island City region of New York City. The feature was syndicated through World Color Printing until at least 1933. By 1923, Paschall had moved to Marion, Ohio, where he worked for the Jay H. Maish advertising company, making commercial drawings. He rose to become the company's manager, advertising agent and manufacturer's agent.
From: The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey), 13 April 1927.
Bodybuilding career
In between his jobs, Paschall found time for his lifelong hobby, body building. As a child, he was very impressed to see legendary bodybuilder Arthur Saxon perform his strongman act. Paschall started training as a teenager and, as an adult, regularly kept working out in the gym. On 25 August 1926, he set a new record in the national weight lifting championship, lifting 185 pounds with his total being 595 pounds. Paschall was also a writer and cartoonist for the monthly Strength and Health magazine. He wrote the popular column 'Behind the Scenes', in which he explained to readers how real champions trained and demystified many urban legends about the profession. He also answered letters from readers.
'Muscle Moulding', with photography depicting Harry Paschall.
Bosco
For Strength and Health magazine, Paschall also drew a comic strip, titled 'Bosco' (1936-1957). Bosco is a strongman with a curly mustache and German accent. In each episode, he confronts bullies, hecklers or other unpleasant people about their behavior. Sometimes he beats them up, but he can also intimidate them into obedience. Seeing the character as a kind of alter ego, Paschall used him as a mascot in his own, self-written instruction manuals about body building and physical training: 'Muscle Moulding' (1950), 'Bosco System of Progressive Physical Training' (1950), 'Development of Strength' (1951) and 'Bosco's Strength Note Book' (1951-1952). These books - which use Bosco in their drawings to explain certain techniques - have been reprinted many times. Paschall's cartoons also appeared in the British magazine Vigour.
From: Bosco's Strength Note Book.
Death and legacy
While driving to deliver galleys to the printer, Harry Paschall suffered a fatal heart attack. He died in 1957, in Delaware, Ohio.
About half a century later, one of Strength and Health's current columnists, Brooks Kubik, wrote a series of articles about notable people in the history of physical training and bodybuilding. When he went to visit Paschall's grave, he was shocked to see it was unmarked, particularly since his other family members did have a marker. He decided to start a fundraiser to buy Paschall a personalized grave maker. In 2011, the goal was achieved.
Harry Paschall.