Walter "Pee-wee" Harris is a fictional
Boy Scout
A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
who has appeared in several series of boy's books by
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
Percy Keese Fitzhugh (September 7, 1876 – July 5, 1950) was an American author of nearly 100 books for children and young adults.
Biography
Percy Keese Fitzhugh was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Reco ...
as well as in a long-running
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
in the magazine ''
Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
''. Originally spelled "Pee-wee", his name has occasionally been spelled "Pee-Wee" and is spelled "Pee Wee" in the ''Boys' Life'' comic strip.
Background
Pee-wee Harris first appeared in 1915 as a supporting character in Fitzhugh’s series of novels about the Boy Scouts of "Troop 1, Bridgeboro, NJ". Though Pee-wee is small of stature and young of age, he is the quintessential
First Class Boy Scout. He is almost always wearing one of his many
Scout uniforms, and carries a
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
, a
pocketknife
A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A ty ...
, a belt axe, and some food to appease his never-ending appetite. His fellow Scouts would say that "Pee-wee is not in the Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts are in him."
![Pee-Wee Harris adrift (1922) (14566378999)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Pee-Wee_Harris_adrift_%281922%29_%2814566378999%29.jpg)
His adventures were so numerous that in 1922 Pee-wee was given a
book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...
of his own. The series revolves around him using Scouting skills such as
signaling
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
and
stalking
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The ter ...
to have adventures and solve mysteries. The hero of these stories usually gets himself into predicaments through his enthusiasm for the Scout way and his noble intentions. But Pee-wee is the kind of boy who always lands on his feet. He takes a situation that he manages to screw up with his zeal and, with his Scout knowledge and a huge dose of luck, always seems to come out on top. “''Even when he loses, he wins''”. The series also featured other Scouts from the "First Bridgeboro Troop" such as Tom Slade, Roy Blakeley, and Westy Martin, who each also had their own series of books, the first two preceding the Pee-wee series and the last following it. The Pee-wee Harris book series ran until 1930.
Like many of the Scouts in Fitzhugh's novels, Pee-wee was based on a real person, in Pee-wee's case – one Al Gar Bloom, whose father ran a newsstand near Fitzhugh's studio in
. Al, himself a Scout, would regularly pester Mr. Fitzhugh to see the manuscripts before they were sent off to his publisher. When the Pee-wee Harris series began; Al was the natural choice as the Scout who would grace the cover of the first volume. Al lived in Hackensack for many years, eventually becoming a reporter for the ''
Bergen Evening Record
''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...
''. In an interview given in the 1970s, Al had this to say about PKF’s books: “Fitzhugh’s books – moral, humorous – were well suited to my generation just as the
Rover Boys
The Rover Boys, or The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans, was a popular juvenile series written by Arthur M. Winfield, a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. Thirty titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print fo ...
,
Horatio Alger
Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. His wri ...
and
Oliver Optic
William Taylor Adams (July 30, 1822 – March 27, 1897), pseudonym Oliver Optic, was an academic, author, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Early life and education
Adams was born in Medway, Massachusetts, on July 3 ...
were rigidly keyed to the moral tone and drive for material success of their respective eras.”
Books
![Pee-Wee Harris on the trail (1922) (14750534834)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Pee-Wee_Harris_on_the_trail_%281922%29_%2814750534834%29.jpg)
Thirteen Pee-wee Harris books were published by
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
Today, through the Penguin Gro ...
between 1922-1930:
* ''Pee-wee Harris'' (1922)
* ''Pee-wee Harris on the Trail'' (1922)
* ''Pee-wee Harris in Camp'' (1922)
* ''Pee-wee Harris in Luck'' (1922)
* ''Pee-wee Harris Adrift'' (1922)
* ''Pee-wee Harris F.O.B. Bridgeboro'' (1923)
* ''Pee-wee Harris: Fixer (1924)''
* ''Pee-wee Harris: As Good As His Word'' (1925)
* ''Pee-wee Harris: Mayor For A Day'' (1926); serialized in ''Boys' Life'' as "Pee-Wee's Patrol"
* ''Pee-wee Harris and the Sunken Treasure'' (1927)
* ''Pee-wee Harris on the Briny Deep'' (1928)
* ''Pee-wee Harris in Darkest Africa'' (1929)
* ''Pee-wee Harris Turns Detective'' (1930)
In addition, these two stories are known to exist:
* "Pee-wee Harris Warrior Bold" (1930) - published as a serial in ''Boys' Life'' magazine
* "Pee-wee's Gold Brick" - an unpublished manuscript
Around 1935 Grosset & Dunlap sold the rights to the first two Pee-wee Harris books to Whitman Publishing. These books, along with 4 other Fitzhugh titles, were added to their extensive "2300" series of books for young adults. They remained in their catalog until the 1950s.
An abridged audio book of the seminal novel was published in December 2009.
''Boys' Life''
In April 1920, The book "Roy Blakely's Camp on Wheels" was serialized in ''Boys' Life'' magazine. The story featured Pee-wee and ran for eight issues. Several other issues featured Fitzhugh's serialized books. In 1952, Pee-wee made the transition to the comic strip, appearing in the "Pee Wee Harris" comic strip in ''
Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
'' (September issue). This is when his name was first spelled with the capital "W" and the hyphen was removed. This project was begun by editor and writer, Alfred B. Stenzel, who was given the task of capturing the essence of Pee-Wee’s character. The first artist was Bill Williams who drew it from 1952 to 1963. The strip originally carried the byline "by
Percy K. Fitzhugh" even though Fitzhugh had died in 1950.
The comic strip originally followed story lines from the books. Over the years, it has been changed in both artistic style and story line. Westy Martin from Fitzhugh's original stories transferred over to comics. In the latest incarnations of the strip, relative new characters named Sam, Chubb, Carlos appear in supporting roles. Responsibility for the strip has been handed down over the years, and previous artists include Manny Stallman and
Frank Bolle
Frank W. Bolle (June 23, 1924 – May 12, 2020) was an American comic-strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator, best known as the longtime artist of the newspaper strips ''Winnie Winkle'' and ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''; for stints on th ...
. Mike Adair has been illustrator since 1997. In one series of the comic each story featured Pee-Wee wearing a different type of Scout hat-from classic "Smokey the Bear" hat to a glengerry to a beret to a baseball type hat
uch as seen above On seldom occasion Pee Wee would be shown wearing something that was not authorized Scouting headgear, but germane to the story, such as one strip where Pee Wee challenged the camp's champion to a canoe race, the title panel showed Pee Wee wearing a nautical captain's hat.
Stories include Pee Wee attempting scout skills in a humorous way. ''Boys' Life'' provides its youthful readers this description of Pee Wee: "From high adventure to cooking, nobody explores Scouting like Pee Wee Harris. Join him and his friends each month in the pages of Boys’ Life magazine".
"Pee Wee Harris comics"
''Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
'' (Retrieved August 2, 2018). Boyslife.org has an archive for all Pee Wee comics back to March 2010. In March 2011, on ''Boys' Life'''s 100th anniversary, his character appeared in an interview that talked about ''Boys' Life'''s comic section history called "How I Became a Comic Page Hero." An online version of this interview included a video and Pee Wee was voiced by Zachary Gordon
Zachary Adam Gordon (born February 15, 1998) is an American actor. He rose to prominence by playing Greg Heffley in the first three films of the '' Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series. He then went on to play Tate Wilson in '' Good Trouble'' and ...
.
References
External links
''Pee-Wee Harris''
at LibriVox
LibriVox is a group of worldwide volunteers who read and record public domain texts, creating free public domain audiobooks for download from their website and other digital library hosting sites on the internet. It was founded in 2005 by Hugh Mc ...
(public domain audiobooks)
{{Early Juvenile Series
Book series introduced in 1922
Juvenile series
Literature of the Boy Scouts of America
Harris, Pee-Wee
Harris, Pee-Wee
Pee-Wee
Harris, Pee-Wee
Harris, Pee-Wee
Harris, Pee-Wee
1952 comics debuts
Harris, Pee-Wee
Pee-Wee