Bozo
By Foxo Reardon | 1062 Followers
About Bozo
"Bozo" was created after Francis X. "Foxo" Reardon was laid off from The Richmond Times-Dispatch at age 16. The comic strip appeared in the Times-Dispatch on a weekly basis from 1925 until it was accepted for national and international syndication by the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate in 1945. Reardon had sought syndication many times for the strip over the years during the Great Depression, followed by a paper shortage and then the war years. At the end of World War II in 1945, those obstacles were removed.
A reader survey taken of 1,500 readers of the Times-Dispatch in 1935 found "Bozo" to be the second most popular comic, following the strip "Bringing Up Father." Upon syndication, a reader survey conducted by the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate found it to be that syndicate's most popular comic. "Bozo" has the distinction of being the world's original pantomime comic strip.
Reardon took a word, "bozo," that was practically unknown in the 1920s and popularized it through his weekly newspaper strip, decades before the appearance of Bozo the Clown.
This historic comic is presented in its original form, unedited from the time period in which it was created. These images may contain harmful stereotypes, problematic and antiquated ideologies, or otherwise negative cultural depictions and themes indicative of the context in which it first appeared. We run these vintage comic strips to preserve a digital archive of the medium's early examples.
Meet Foxo Reardon
Francis X. Reardon, the creator of the world's first pantomime comic strip, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on Jan. 5, 1905. From a young age, he showed considerable drawing ability. He attended Bridgeton (NJ) High School for two years before returning to Richmond at age 16. He was hired as a sports cartoonist with The Richmond Times-Dispatch but soon thereafter was let go due to budget cuts.
Reardon eventually found work as a cartoonist for the Bridgeton (NJ) Evening News, but two years later, he was back at the Times-Dispatch. In just five years as a working cartoonist, this young man who never took an art lesson in his life became the head cartoonist and art director of one of the South's leading newspapers.
Reardon became known as one of the great pen artists. During his 22 years as a cartoonist for the Times-Dispatch, Reardon created thousands of cartoons, produced a weekly page of comics, drew a weekly page called "About Town," created the long-running feature "Old Dominion Oddities," and created the comic strip "Bozo," which was always his first love. At the same time, he raised eight children.
Due to sickness, about 10% of Reardon's syndicated strips were done by substitute cartoonists. He was diagnosed with cancer and lost an eye yet continued to work with fortitude and without complaint until within a few weeks of his death on Nov. 30, 1955.