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Schulz, Charles Monroe (1922–2000)
Charles Schulz with a drawing of Charlie Brown, 1956. New York World-Telegram and Sun collection, Library of Congress (via Wikimedia Commons). Public domain.
Charles Schulz was a cartoonist best known as the creator of Peanuts, the syndicated comic strip that featured the characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown and expanded into a franchise that included TV shows, movies, and toys. By the time of Schulz’s death, Peanuts was reaching readers in twenty-one languages across some 2,600 newspapers in seventy-five countries. Altogether, Schulz produced more than 18,000 strips over nearly fifty years.
Born on November 26, 1922, in Minneapolis, Charles Monroe Schulz was the only child of German immigrant Carl Schulz and Dena Halverson Schulz. Apart from two years spent in Needles, California, Charles grew up in the Twin Cities. Having read the Sunday funnies every week with his father from an early age, Charles became enchanted by the art of cartooning.
In 1937, the young aspiring cartoonist published a sketch of the Schulz family dog, Spike, in Robert Ripley’s popular Believe It or Not! newspaper feature. In 1940, at the end of his senior year at St. Paul’s Central High School, Schulz enrolled in a correspondence course at the Federal School of Applied Cartooning (later renamed the Art Instruction Schools) in Minneapolis. While working odd jobs, he drew sketches and submitted them for publication.
Schulz gave up drawing when he was drafted into the US Army in the fall of 1942. He was trained to operate a machine gun at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, where he rose to the rank of staff sergeant before being deployed to Europe in February 1945. World War II ended months later, and Schulz received the Combat Infantryman Badge for fighting in active combat against the Nazis before being discharged on January 6, 1946.
Upon returning to St. Paul in 1946, Schulz was hired to do lettering for Timeless Topix, a Catholic comic magazine. From 1947 to the early 1950s, he was an instructor at the Art Instruction Schools. In early 1947, Schulz finally had his debut of a weekly panel, titled Li’l Folks, in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Published under the byline of “Sparky” (the artist’s nickname as a child) the cartoon introduced early versions of the characters of Charlie Brown, a long-suffering everyman type, and his pet dog, Snoopy. The first fifteen strips of Li’l Folks ran in the Saturday Evening Post between 1948 and 1950.
In 1950, Li'l Folks was bought by United Feature Syndicate and retitled Peanuts. The first Peanuts strip debuted on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers nationwide, including the Minneapolis Tribune. It featured a group of three-to-five-year-old characters, inspired by Schulz’s own childhood in the Twin Cities. As cultural historian M. Thomas Inge puts it, the main character, Charlie Brown, comes out of a narrative tradition that celebrates inadequate heroes, such as those in James Thurber’s cartoons; Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp character; and Buster Keaton’s screen persona. The character of Snoopy, a beagle hound based on Schulz’s childhood family pet, is often portrayed as harboring frustrated dreams of grandeur, and wiser than the children. Other characters include Sally, Charlie Brown’s little sister; his surly and contrary friend Lucy; her younger brother, Linus; and his friend Schroeder.
Collections of Peanuts were published in book form starting in 1952. The first television special using Peanuts characters, A Charlie Brown Christmas, appeared in 1965, with many television specials following. In addition, the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown has been produced numerous times since its premiere in 1967. The popularity of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the other characters resulted in the international marketing of products featuring Peanuts characters as early as 1950.
Schulz retired from drawing in January 2000, shortly before his death. Since then, Peanuts has returned to syndication, starting with strips originally drawn in 1974. Among his accomplishments are four full-length films, forty books, and thirty TV specials. As of 2020, the Peanuts comic strip has appeared in more than 30,000 newspapers in forty languages in seventy-five countries, reaching 350 million readers daily.
Throughout his career, Schulz won many accolades, including a number of Peabody and Emmy Awards. He received Honorary LHDs from Anderson College in Indiana and St. Mary's College in California, as well as a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. In late September of 2015, on the sixty-fifth anniversary of Peanuts’ October 1950 debut, Schulz was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
Bibliography
“Charles Schulz.” Biography.com.
https://www.biography.com/artist/charles-schulz
“Charles Schulz.” Britannica.com.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Schulz
“Charles M. Schulz.” LibGuide, Minnesota Historical Society.
https://libguides.mnhs.org/schulz
Charlie Brown autobiography files, 1926–1983
Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Includes manuscript paste-ups for Me and Charlie Brown, an autobiography of Charlie Brown that chronicles his family, childhood, coming of age, religious quest, and his acquaintance with Charles M. Schulz and its subsequent effect on his life. Miscellaneous art, clippings, photographs, and other items, many of which were used to illustrate the book, are also included with the collection.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00863.xml
Inge, M. Thomas. Charles M. Schulz: Conversations. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2000.
Johnson, Rheta Grimsley. Good Grief! The Story of Charles M. Schulz. New York: Pharos Books, 1989.
Michaelis, David. Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. New York: Harper, 2007.
Schulz, Charles M. Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz. Edited by Chip Kidd. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.
Related Resources
Primary
Schulz, Charles M. Happiness Is a Warm Puppy. San Francisco: Determined Productions, 1962.
——— . It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. New York: New American Library, 1969.
——— . Charlie Brown and Snoopy. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1971.
——— . A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1972.
——— . “Peanuts—How It All Began.” Liberty Then & Now 1, no. 11 (Winter 1973): 14–16.
——— . Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others. 1st ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975.
——— . The Complete Peanuts. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2004.
——— . Peanuts, A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World's Best-Loved Comic Strip. Edited by David Larkin. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.
Schulz, Charles M., and Jim Sasseville. It's Only a Game. Thousand Oaks, CA: About Comics, 2004.
Schulz, Charles M., and Derrick Bang. Li’l Beginnings. CA: Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, 2003.
Schulz, Charles M. and R. Smith Kiliper. Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Me, and All the Other Peanuts Characters. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.
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MN90: A Boy Called Sparky
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Charles Schulz (right), his drawing of the Charlie Brown character (center), and the inspiration for the character (Charlie Brown, left), ca. 1950s. Charlie Brown autobiography files, 1910–1989, Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. The photograph (by Frank Ross) appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, November 29–30, 1956, with this caption: "“The real life Charlie Brown, on left, receives a greeting from cartoon character Charlie Brown, drawn by his long time friend Charles Schulz. The flesh and blood Charlie Brown is a 26 year old bachelor of Minneapolis.”

Charles Schulz with a drawing of Charlie Brown
Charles Schulz with a drawing of Charlie Brown, 1956. New York World-Telegram and Sun collection, Library of Congress (via Wikimedia Commons). Public domain.
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Staff Sergeant Charles M. Schulz
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Charles Schulz and Charlie Brown
Charles Schulz (right), his drawing of the Charlie Brown character (center), and the inspiration for the character (Charlie Brown, left), ca. 1950s. Charlie Brown autobiography files, 1910–1989, Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. The photograph (by Frank Ross) appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, November 29–30, 1956, with this caption: "“The real life Charlie Brown, on left, receives a greeting from cartoon character Charlie Brown, drawn by his long time friend Charles Schulz. The flesh and blood Charlie Brown is a 26 year old bachelor of Minneapolis.”
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Peanuts playing cards
Peanuts playing cards with illustrations by Charles Schulz, 1975. Copyright United Feature Syndicate, Inc., 75BC103-2.
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Peanuts gang figurines
Peanuts gang figurines, undated. Program use material (PUM-11186669), 3D Objects Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.
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Life jacket with Peanuts characters
Child's life jacket with zipper front, adjusting laces, and web belt, manufactured ca. 1965. Obverse is decorated with a lake scene and Peanuts characters Snoopy and Woodstock paddling a canoe.
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Swedish birthday postcard with Snoopy illustration
Rectangular postcard with cartoon of Peanuts character Snoopy dressed as a World War I flying ace piloting his doghouse while singing “JA, MA DU LEVA” (“Yes, you must live well,” a birthday greeting). Drawing by Charles Schulz, published by Hallmark Grako, Sweden, 1969.
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Swedish birthday postcard with Charlie Brown illustration
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Peanuts mobile
Multi-colored mobile with cardboard cutout characters from Charles Schulz's Peanuts, 1970.
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Charlie Brown novelty baseball card
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Charles M. Schulz receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Banner featuring Lucy Van Pelt
Banner featuring the Peanuts character Lucy Van Pelt used by special education teacher Margo Dinneen in her classrooms between 1975 and 1980 and between 1992 and 2008.
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Turning Point
After multiple attempts to get Li'l Folks syndicated, Schulz catches a break when United Feature Syndicate purchases it in 1950. Retitled Peanuts, the comic strip debuts on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers nationwide, including the Minneapolis Tribune.
Chronology
1922
1928
1934
1950
1951
1962
1964
1965
1967
1969
1972
1973
1975
1976
2000
Bibliography
“Charles Schulz.” Biography.com.
https://www.biography.com/artist/charles-schulz
“Charles Schulz.” Britannica.com.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Schulz
“Charles M. Schulz.” LibGuide, Minnesota Historical Society.
https://libguides.mnhs.org/schulz
Charlie Brown autobiography files, 1926–1983
Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Includes manuscript paste-ups for Me and Charlie Brown, an autobiography of Charlie Brown that chronicles his family, childhood, coming of age, religious quest, and his acquaintance with Charles M. Schulz and its subsequent effect on his life. Miscellaneous art, clippings, photographs, and other items, many of which were used to illustrate the book, are also included with the collection.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00863.xml
Inge, M. Thomas. Charles M. Schulz: Conversations. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2000.
Johnson, Rheta Grimsley. Good Grief! The Story of Charles M. Schulz. New York: Pharos Books, 1989.
Michaelis, David. Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. New York: Harper, 2007.
Schulz, Charles M. Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz. Edited by Chip Kidd. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.
Related Resources
Primary
Schulz, Charles M. Happiness Is a Warm Puppy. San Francisco: Determined Productions, 1962.
——— . It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. New York: New American Library, 1969.
——— . Charlie Brown and Snoopy. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1971.
——— . A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1972.
——— . “Peanuts—How It All Began.” Liberty Then & Now 1, no. 11 (Winter 1973): 14–16.
——— . Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others. 1st ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975.
——— . The Complete Peanuts. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2004.
——— . Peanuts, A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World's Best-Loved Comic Strip. Edited by David Larkin. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.
Schulz, Charles M., and Jim Sasseville. It's Only a Game. Thousand Oaks, CA: About Comics, 2004.
Schulz, Charles M., and Derrick Bang. Li’l Beginnings. CA: Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, 2003.
Schulz, Charles M. and R. Smith Kiliper. Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Me, and All the Other Peanuts Characters. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.