Charlie Brown and the Gang

Charles Schulz and Charlie Brown

February 13, 2000: The last original Peanuts comic strip appears. Charles M. Schulz, cartoonist and creator of the strip died the previous evening. He began drawing a comic strip in 1947 called Li’l Folks but was unable to get the cartoon syndicated. He dropped it in January, 1950. On October 2, 1950, Peanuts made its debut in seven newspapers.

Charlie Brown, the little boy who just never quite succeeded, got his trademark shirt by December 21, 1950. Lucy, the crabby, bossy friend, debuted on March 3, 1952. Linus, Lucy’s blanket toting baby brother was born on September 19, 1952, but his blanket didn’t arrive until June 1, 1954. Sally, Charlie Brown’s baby sister, appeared on August 22, 1960 and fell in love with Linus, her “Sweet Babboo” the next day. Snoopy, the irrepressible beagle, walked into our hearts on October 4, 1950, stole Linus’s blanket for the first time on March 25, 1955, and began writing on top of his doghouse on July 12, 1965 penning the immortal words, “It was a dark and stormy night.” He was joined by Woodstock on April 4, 1967.

No adults ever appeared in the strip. Charlie Brown’s father, like Charles Schulz’s father, was a barber, as we found out on March 11, 1960. By mid-1984 the strip was appearing in 2,000 newspapers. The Peanuts strip won many awards over the years and the Gang showed up on television specials, in films, in theatrical productions, and on Hallmark cards. Their images were licensed and merchandizing campaigns brought many products into our homes.

After nearly 50 years without interruption, the comic strip was in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. In November 1999 Charles Schulz had a stroke and while hospitalized it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized to the stomach. On December 14, 1999 Schulz announced his retirement, citing his illness and failing eyesight. He had drawn some cartoons ahead, but when those were gone, there would be no one else drawing Charlie Brown and the Gang according to Schulz and his family’s wishes. On May 27, 2000 almost 100 syndicated cartoonists paid tribute to the Master by producing Peanuts-themed strips that ran that day.

“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Why me?’ Then a voice answers, ‘Nothing personal… your name just happened to come up.'”

“That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another…”

“For one brief moment today I thought I was winning in the game of life. But there was a flag on the play!”

“Life is like an ice cream cone…you have to learn to lick it.” – all from Charlie Brown of Peanuts

This article first appeared at Examiner.com in 2010. Editor’s update: Charles Schulz, nicknamed Sparky, was born in Minnesota in 1922 and grew up in St. Paul. Both of his parents were immigrants, his father from Germany and his mother from Norway. He was a shy teenager, possibly because he was the youngest child in his class. He was drafted during World War II and served in Europe, a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team. His unit saw combat near the end of the war. After the war he took a job reviewing and grading lessons submitted by students at Art Instruction, Inc. He continued to work at the school until he could make enough money with his own artwork to support himself.

Also on this day: The Center of the Universe – In 1633, Galileo was brought before the Inquisition.
That’s Debatable – In 1815, The Cambridge Union Society is founded.
Old MacDonald – In 1692, the Glencoe Massacre took place.