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.

Aw, Nuts!

Charles M. Schulz at his drawing board.

October 2, 1950: Charles M. Schulz begins his cartoon strip. He was born in Minnesota and nicknamed Sparky by his uncle after the horse Spark Plug in Billy DeBeck’s comic strip, Barney Google. Charles first published drawing was of the family dog. The dog, called Spike, ate pins, tacks, and even razor blades. The child drew a picture of the dog and sent it off to Ripley’s Believe it or Not! where it was published. The dog was said to be owned by C.F. Shultz and the picture was credited as “Drawn by Sparky”. Charles was a shy, timid child even too afraid to put valentines cards into his classmates’ boxes on that special day.

His first cartoon series was called Li’l Folks and ran from 1947 to 1950. In that series, he named one of his characters Charlie Brown. He used the name four times for three different boys, so the idea wasn’t fully formed yet. Li’l Folks also had a dog that looked like a prototype for Snoopy. By 1948, Schulz was published in The Saturday Evening Post, the first of 17 times there. He attempted to get Li’l Folks syndicated but was not successful. He tried again, using some of his best strips from Li’l Folks and approached the United Feature Syndicate. With a renamed strip, he began putting out Peanuts cartoons on this day.

Peanuts is considered the most popular and most influential comic strip of all time. There were 17,897 original cartoons published from October 2, 1950 to February 13, 2000. They have continued in reruns since that time. At its peak, Peanuts was seen in over 2,600 newspapers – that’s over 355 million readers in 75 countries and 21 languages. It helped to cement the four-panel strip form we are so familiar with today. But the Peanuts gang did more than just march through strips, they were also television stars with such things as award winning shows like A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

The initial cast was Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty (not Peppermint Patty), and a dog called Snoopy. Violet was added in 1951 as was Schroeder. Lucy and Linus both appeared in 1952 and Pig-Pen arrived in 1954. Charlie Brown was a shy, timid child with an immense inferiority complex, but able to verbally spar with his friends. Woodstock didn’t appear until 1967, the year after Peppermint Patty arrived. The final daily strip ran on January 3, 2000 but there were more Sunday strips drawn. The last original Sunday strip ran on February 13, 2000 – the day after Charles Schulz died at the age of 77.

It seems beyond the comprehension of people that someone can be born to draw comic strips, but I think I was. My ambition from earliest memory was to produce a daily comic strip.

A cartoonist is someone who has to draw the same thing day after day without repeating himself.

I just draw what I think is funny, and I hope other people think it is funny, too.

If I were a better artist, I’d be a painter, and if I were a better writer, I’d write books — but I’m not, so I draw cartoons! – all from Charles M. Schulz

Also on this day:

HMS Beagle – In 1836, Charles Darwin returned to England.
Forgiveness – In 2006 Charles Carl Roberts murdered five young girls at an Amish schoolhouse.
Queen Mary vs Curacao – In 1942, the two British ships collided.

Good Grief

Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center

August 17, 2002: The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center opens. Charles Schulz was the creator of the Peanuts comic strip. He gave us Charlie Brown, who never quite kicked a football; Schroeder, supreme pianist; Lucy, available for psychiatric help for 5¢; her brother Linus, with his security blanket; and Snoopy, the beagle who could do anything.

Schulz first introduced his limited cast of characters on October 2, 1950. Before that, he drew a weekly strip called Li’l Folks for his hometown paper. Peanuts premiered in seven newspapers as a daily strip. January 6, 1952 was the first Sunday strip.  Charlie Brown, complete with his inferiority complex but heart of gold, starred in many feature films. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving debuted in 1973 joining his Christmas special which premiered in 1965. Charlie Brown and Snoopy even went into space with the astronauts on Apollo X.

Snoopy befriended birds beginning in the early 1960s and finally on June 22, 1970 Woodstock became a full fledged resident of the comic strip. One thing missing from the entire strip was – adults. We knew that Charlie Brown’s father was a barber, but he was never seen.

Peanuts ran for almost fifty years without interruption. In November 1999, Schulz suffered a stroke. He was later found to have cancer. Chemotherapy dimmed his sight and he could no longer read or write. He retired in December 1999. On January 3, 2000 Charles Schultz said goodbye to his loyal readers from 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries, translated into 40 languages. His 355 million readers saw their last Sunday Peanuts strip on February 13, 2000 – the day after Charles Schulz died of a heart attack at age 77.

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”

“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.’”

“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”

“I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.”

“There is no problem so big it cannot be run away from.” – all from Charles M. Schulz

Also on this day, in 1978 the Double Eagle II makes the first successful trip across the Atlantic.
Bonus Link: In 1959, Quake Lake was formed.