Charles M. Schulz's understated four-panel strip introduced a cast of anxious, philosophical children whose small dramas—unrequited crushes, a football perpetually yanked away, existential dread before a psychiatric booth—resonated across generations. Peanuts ran for nearly fifty years, eventually appearing in 2,600 newspapers across 75 countries, and became one of the most successful and influential comic strips ever published.
The strip's original title, chosen by a United Feature Syndicate editor over Schulz's objections, was Peanuts—a name Schulz disliked for the rest of his life, feeling it trivialized his work. He had wanted to call it 'Li'l Folks,' but the syndicate worried about confusion with another strip.
The first strip, published in just seven newspapers on this day, was a mere four panels showing two children watching Charlie Brown walk by, one saying 'Well! Here comes ol' Charlie Brown!' followed by a cutting remark once he passed—a jab of quiet meanness that hinted at the emotional complexity to come. Snoopy did not appear until the third strip, and would not walk on two legs or fantasize as the Red Baron for years.
Schulz wrote and drew every strip himself for its entire run, never using an assistant, producing nearly 18,000 strips before his death in February 2000—his last original strip appeared the day after he died. The strip's melancholic humor, drawn from Schulz's own insecurities and depression, changed the comic strip from gag-a-day slapstick into a vehicle for genuine psychological nuance.
Key people: Charles M. Schulz