Peanuts (the comic) Part I | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. radio and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh there's Chuck Ben's here sitting in. for Jerry it's Ben H week in the. producer's chair and this is stuff you. should. know uh I got a slide whistle in my. Christmas. stocking you realize you got me this. slide whistle I know but I got my own.

now oh okay I thought we were talking. about me no no no uh are you I guess. you're still enjoying it you brought it. out yes yeah I love. it what' you use it for with. peanuts I just thought it kind of fit. the motif a little bit Comics you know. so sure I've been looking for an. opportunity to bust it out and here we. go I thought you cuz not everyone knows. this uh and this almost never happens we. started to record Josh said hold on a. second and left.

and I was pretty convinced you were. going to come back with a trombone and a. plunger that was close that was close. man that would have been something now I. suddenly am ashamed of my slide. whistle exactly that was a pretty good. one thanks hey while we're on that Chuck. what you're talking about is the adults. in the peanuts Universe you never see. them you saw them once um and it was. just strange but you can hear them off. of off camera and they're discussed and. talked about you just don't see them but.

in the specials when they talk they talk. like that and it's a muted trombone like. you said a plunger and a trombone M and. um that was the idea of Vince jaldi who. was the guy who created the soundtrack. for the Peanuts Christmas special dang. straight one of the I think it's a. number two bestselling Jazz record of. all time right yeah after Miles Davis's. kind of blue of course yeah is it. geraldi I thought it was geraldi is it. geraldi I think it's kind of like that. whole GIF gif.

argument the only person who can say is. Vince geraldi I was about to say his. family is like it's not like that at. all uh so we're talking today about. peanuts in case you didn't know it's. funny I was researching peanuts and I. came across at least a couple uh results. that were actually about peanuts the. food it was a little confusing for a. second but for the most part there's a. lot of really interesting stuff out. there that people have written about. peanuts uh and I think the reason why is.

because it's it's really cerebral like. surprisingly disarmingly. cerebral um and. people have gotten so much out of it. over the five decades that it was around. or or more than that by now almost 75. years since it started um that everyone. just kind of loves it and has some sort. of emotional connection to it so there's. been a lot of like good written analysis. about it essays and ODS and stuff like. that totally and you know one thing that.

I'm sure you can verify speaking for. both of us researching peanuts is a hard. thing to stop doing it really is you can. just it's just one of these topics you. can just keep going and going and going. because it's all interesting beyond the. nostalgic love it's interesting as an. adult to look back on some of this stuff. yeah uh because it's really has you know. the way it's framed in my mind at least. is a lot different now than it was when. I was a kid um yeah just a a landmark.

comic strip in in every single way one. of if not the biggest and best ever yeah. it's it's a very deceptive comic in that. all of the characters are kids um grade. school kids um but it's not a kid's. comic it's a comic for adults and I. remember being a kid and like the extent. that I appreciated it was you know. Charlie Brown flying through the air or. Lucy calling somebody a blockhead or. Snoopy doing his thing that was it I.

didn't get any of the the existentialism. associated with it nothing like that it. was totally lost to me and I think. that's the way it was meant to be you. know sometimes people can can create. works like The Simpsons are a good idea. or good example where like it can be. enjoyed on multiple levels um and that's. true of peanuts too but the proportions. are off it's not even like the adult. enjoyment of peanuts is far greater and. deeper than the kids appreciation of. peanuts you know what I'm saying saying.

yeah I mean I think it's definitely four. kids yeah I agree I think it's just the. proportions are off yeah that's what I. said I know but at the beginning you. said it's not a comic for kids it's for. adults and I I disagree I think it's for. kids too uh but I think adults can. definitely gain more insight well you. know i' have to say that what. peanuts all right so you mentioned that. peanuts ran for almost 50 years she said. five decades and I know math mhm it ran.

from October 2nd 1950 to February 13. 2000 yeah and. for almost all of that that five decades. uh one Charles Schultz Drew seven. peanuts Comics a week I think the the. Sunday started in 1952 for. 17,897 comic strips and he didn't Farm. these out no he he did them himself and. he uh you found that one thing that was. like he he also.

generally did them in pen as well uh. because he was just so sort of decisive. in his work yeah um I saw somebody say. like the average comic artist couldn't. would have trouble keeping up that level. of dedication for a decade let alone. five yeah like the just the amount of um. dedication it takes to do that like. apparently Charles Schultz was. completely cut out for that kind of. thing um he wasn't a big fan of holidays. because they got in the way of his work.

like that's what he was dedicated to I. saw one of his family members either a. widow ex-wife or a child I can't. remember who said like oh I think it was. one of his daughters who said like his. family was not his everything the the. Peanuts comic strip was his everything. that was his life and and he built a. life for himself and for his family. outside of that but I mean like that's. what that guy's purpose on Earth was and. he fulfilled it to the nines yeah I mean. one thing I can relate to I think both.

of us a little bit is doing something. with consistency over great deal of time. we're in year 16 right can you imagine. 50. years no I really can't but we've said. stuff like this before so it's entirely. possible we'll end up in year 50 I I. won't be around my friend that's not. true there's going to be all sorts of. great breakthroughs in in medicine in. the next decade or two if I'm a 90s.

something year old podcaster then. something went horribly. wrong so there's a glitch in The Matrix. huh yeah exactly so one of the things. about peanuts is that um it's. universally loved because it was. basically available throughout the. Universe yeah um 2600 newspapers is at. its peak and it was at a peak pretty. much from the70s onward um 2600. newspapers in 75 countries in 21. different different languages and his.

readership was about 350 million people. around the world uh and I think one of. the reasons why it was so um so. widespread is because the thing about. peanuts from all the research I did and. just kind of coming to understand what. the whole thing was about is that it's. about the universal Human Condition it's. not just about Americans and what. Americans go through it's not just about. um Canadians even and what Canadians go. through.

it's about what every human alive goes. through it's very basic human condition. stuff is what they're actually talking. about and what are behind a lot of the. gags and so um that that to me is is. pretty much the explanation right there. for why it's so universally loved yeah. and The Human Condition thing uh. generally with peanuts wasn't the thrill. of victory but the agony of defeat yeah. uh time and time again these characters. suffer setbacks and failures over over. and over and over and even when they're.

not doing that there are very few grand. victories at all and it's it's amazing. to look at it now that it was I mean I. guess people do connect with that but. it's amazing to look at a comic strip in. the funny papers about these kids with. such Pathos and with such failure and. such you know some sometimes clearly. depression it's just it's really uh is a. remarkable cultural um staple I think. yeah and it's much easier to to think of.

now because it's so widespread among. Comics but at the time in. 1950 yeah this was there was nothing. like it I mean there have been some. stuff about little kids and kid groups. that like Comics that had focused on. that some of which inspired Charles. Schultz but this it was just. groundbreaking in every single way yeah. totally um so should we go to the man. himself yeah let's all right so Charles. M Schultz uh was born in November uh 26.

1922 in St Paul Minnesota uh he got the. nickname Sparky when he was a kid when. well when he was a baby in fact because. his uncle uh saw him and thought that he. looked like uh this character from. another cartoon uh called Barney Google. named Sparky so he nicknamed him spark. plug that became Sparky and apparently. everyone who knew him and was close to. him in his life called him Sparky for. his whole life yeah um and apparently he. always wanted to draw Comics even from a.

young age it was his aspiration that he. got to fulfill so cool and then some but. his dad Carl was a barber um and he was. I think a German immigrant his mother. Dena was a Norwegian immigrant so. Charles was a full first generation. American kid um and he and his dad loved. to read the funny papers together um so. that was just kind of like his training. came from just enjoying it with his. father which is pretty neat and then his. mother also and this is fairly rare.

among um Western European or northern. European immigrant families his mother. encouraged his drawing too it wasn't. looked at as just some dumb Idol thing. that was a waste of time like he he he. was encouraged to follow his his um his. Destiny I guess yeah I thought you I was. hanging there I was wondering what it. was going to be. dream Destiny is perfect you know have. to say to that slide.

whistle uh so he was drawing like you. said he was he wanted to be a cartoonist. from a very young age so he was drawing. from a very young age uh he got. published for the first time when he was. 14 which is remarkable in a newspaper. comic and a Ripley Believe It or Not. comic it's awesome uh and it was an. image of Spike the family dog uh not. that Spike we're going to get to spike. later one of my favorite characters in. the peanuts Cannon oh yeah you like that. stash. I love.

spike he was a desert hippie you know. yeah he totally was wasn't he he was the. best uh but Spike was their family dog. um it was signed U drawn by Sparky so. that was like his first little cartoon. signature was Sparky and Spike was a. pointer uh not a beagle this wasn't. Snoopy yet but it was the inspiration. for Snoopy I believe Spike was black and. white but was a pointer yeah so we've. got like this is a really good example. of what Charles Schultz did he drew from.

his life sometimes Drew people's names. um for the characters that he introduced. um sometimes he would base characters. and like their looks or their demeanor. on people he knew and and so Spike or. Snoopy being based on Spike is like. pretty much par for the course for what. he did and um so 14 he gets his first. cartoon published and Ripley Believe it. or not believe it or not like you said. um and then as a senior in high school. took a correspondence drawing class from.

what was originally called the federal. school of Applied cartooning a division. of the Bureau of Engraving which. happened to be located in Minneapolis. where he lived essentially and that. later went on to become art instruction. school's Inc and for those still not. great name wise no but I know for a fact. that you're familiar with this because. you were a kid growing up in the late. 70s and 80s oh I know it's coming and. those tv ads do you. remember well I remember ads in.

magazines and comic books I don't. remember the tv ads you're slightly. older so my my age group had the tv ads. we didn't have the picture box this was. this was um what you're talking about. were like magazine ads that had Tippy. the Turtle tiny the mouse or pirate yeah. yeah and you you could choose which one. to draw and you send it in maybe you won. a prize but really what you were doing. was inadvertently um sending your. information to art instruction schools. who would try to recruit you for their. art correspondence course and this is in.

the ' 80s I think they they were still. going into like two the 2010s. essentially oh wow really but that's. where Charles Schulz received his. initial training uh and the cost for. that was about $3,800 in today's um. money and don't forget like his dad's a. barber like Barbers have never been. particularly Rich um so it was like a. big deal that his parents were helping. him out with this this this um course. respondence course fee so that he could.

go get formal training as a a cartoonist. totally um he graduated from there saw. it all the way through uh went to work. doing some various jobs here and there. he was you know drawing cartoons drawing. Comics submitting them everywh he could. uh as you know many stories like this. goes he was rejected by everybody. basically uh the night before he ships. off for world uh World War II his mother. Dena passes away uh from cervical cancer.

and this was a real sort of lifelong. scar for him uh and you know some people. say that you know sort of the Pathos and. the Deep loneliness that all the Peanuts. Gang felt was um sort of him getting. this out and as we'll see you know. everybody from his wife to people that. have studied him have confirmed and even. Charles Schultz himself that like each. of these characters is a is a little. piece of him in some way right um so. yeah he was was he had to Grapple with.

like a basically a onew punch of trauma. because um after his mom's death like. and he shipped out he saw combat he was. in combat so he's dealing with combat. while he's also you know dealing with. the grief from the loss of his mom um. yeah so that's I mean that's gon to have. a pretty big impact on anybody you know. yeah for sure um he makes it through the. war though obviously uh goes back to. Minneapolis goes back to the art school. that he graduated from and got a job. there uh so he was an instructor there.

and for about 5 years he was uh still. drawing still I guess looking at. pictures of uh Pirates and and turtles. and things and he was you know he was. getting his own style together he was. learning about comics and how it all. worked and the business side of things. right and you said he often named people. after people in his real life um three. of his colleagues there was one Charles. Brown uh a lonus Mara and Freda Rich.

yeah Freda was a a minor character with. curly red hair but she wasn't the. redhaired girl that Charlie Brown had a. endless crush on that was based on. another person a woman named Donna. Johnson who Charles Schultz dated when. they both worked at the art instruction. school um and she turned him down and he. forever I guess kind of pined or kept a. flame or something for her um at the. very least she she became the redhaired.

girl that Charlie Brown could never have. can you imagine being the inspiration. for one of these characters I know it's. pretty cool the guy was like the Taylor. Swift of his. era hey she's got eras and then also a. little known fact um that was a good one. by the way uh Donna Johnson who turned. down Charles Schultz and inspired the. red-haired girl uh went on to marry. instead a firefighter named Al. Wald and Al Wald turned out to be the. Bas of the character Gargamel in peo.

Smurfs. cartoon. amazing so in 1947 he got his first uh. big sort of career break uh when he had. his cartoon Lil folks Li apostrophe L. which is a weekly comic uh he got it in. the St Paul Pioneer Press and then uh. when he was 27 in 1950 he got a. syndication deal for Little Folks in. seven. newspapers yeah not not 100 yeah uh and.

they had to change the name there was. already a little folks and there was. also Lil Abner and so they said you know. we can't really do this we got to change. it so they changed the name to peanuts. uh reference to howdy Dy peanut gallery. and Schultz evidently never liked that. name even though it's hard to imagine. anything different now oh no way plus. also he's like peanuts is to schaly and. sacran give me Little Folks any day. right you know but yeah he carried that.

around the whole the whole career he. hated the name peanuts he never came to. like it which is bizarre um and then I I. guess with that syndication deal um one. of the really big things that happened. was he moved from this um space filler. um section on like the women's page in. the St Paul Pioneer Press to the comics. page in addition to getting like a huge. bump in pay so now he'd made it as a. comic his comic was now on the comics. page which was a huge deal to him yeah.

huge bump in pay so he he went to like. $30 a week yeah he he had been making 10. and the editor of um the St Paul Pioneer. Press was like I'm not giving you a dime. more than that so uh the first Peanuts. comic strip uh came on October 2nd. 1950 and I think that is a pretty good. place for our first break eh I think so. all right we'll be right. back.

learning stuff with. josua. and Stu you. should all right so the first peanuts is. October 2nd 1950 uh Snoopy the dog. appeared just two days later on October. 4th 1950 it was Snoopy's first.

appearance uh Snoopy on four legs I. don't think uh if you're not you know a. big peanuts of Fishin a you might not. know that Snoopy started out much more. doglike and Charlie Brown would teach. Snoopy to walk on two legs and Snoopy's. character really more than any other. character uh in peanuts changed over. those 50 years for sure even though a. lot of them changed quite a bit because. you know like with anything with any.

even television sitcom like the. characters really grow like you. cast um your cast whether it's TV or. it's a cartoon or a graphic novel and. then as you write they become real and. they change and evolve just like real. people and that's certainly what. happened to peanuts yeah it's pretty. awesome um one of the other things about. that's widely recognized about peanuts. is the the style of the drawing of the. writing of of the lettering all that. stuff it's just immediately recognizable.

as peanuts and um Schultz's style was. described as a formal. minimalism and he had the four panel um. uh format I guess foisted on him at. first wow there's a lot of FS. alliteration um and he had to work. within it and a lot of times just being. constrained by rules can actually. produce the best art you know um. sometimes when you don't have any rules. it's tough to to find your way or your. direction where you're starting starting.

in a structure can help a lot and he. really thrived in that even though he. apparently didn't like um having that. foed on him but this minimal style um. and the the proportions between the the. lettering the do like the the the speech. bubbles and the kids and the panels. there was a study that called that. schultzy and symmetry which makes a lot. of sense and that what Charles Schultz. did first was draw the panels then wrote. the dialogue then he drew the characters.

and there's a writer named Ivan brelli. who wrote in the Paris review that. pointed out um like if you if you look. at a Peanuts cartoon you're on like eye. level with them you're not looking up. you're not looking down you are on their. level and in in that way it draws you. into the cartoon and you can imagine. yourself like in there with them it it. makes it that much more it like it makes. you part of that world and vice versa. yeah that's the one thing didn't get cuz. that's isn't that every comic in the.

world uh so before him yes now before. him that was not the style did they draw. like they were looking down on top of. someone's head they did whatever they. wanted and each one was Giant and took. up huge amounts of the newspaper and. they were masterpieces like they were. works of art um oftentimes really. surreal they were all over the place all. sorts of different perspectives this was. new and it was part of that formal. minimalism that it was this one you.

looked at it the one way from the side. at the in these these specific. proportions it was it was something new. that he introduced uh a little while ago. when you were saying that those. constraints can really lead to great. things I thought you were going to say. unless it's Family Circus oh do you not. like Family. Circus when was the last time you looked. at Family Circus let's see age seven. okay.

it was terrible oh I mean I loved that. family because I was a little kid that. read the comics like incessantly me too. but like humor in a family circus con uh. P just a single Square was like you know. Jeffy tripped over the book poor Jeff. that's classic. Jeffy uh the other good thing about. getting peanuts going uh was that it was. known and marketed as a space saving. comic so those four panels could be. arranged however you wanted if you.

wanted to draw a square you could if you. wanted them up and down you could uh so. that was you know a real benefit to a. newspaper who are um when you do. newspaper layout is a big part of. putting together newspaper making. everything fit on the page so that was. that was a big plus for him is having. that flexibility I imagine Family Circus. even more flexible sure just the one. square right uh but because of this. minimalism it really the character is. what shown because it wasn't like look.

at this outstanding art it's art we grew. to love but it was look at these. characters and look at these emotions. that these characters are feeling and. how they're insecure and they're. frustrated and they're sad but that's. also coupled with the fact that they. were also very smart at times they were. uh it could be very funny but a lot of. times it wasn't funny at all as far as. just like you know an LOL type of funny. it was something meaningful right but. there was always a lot of hope I think. and you know Dave help put this together. and he points out which a giz and other.

people have pointed out that no matter. how many times Lucy holds that football. Charli's gonna try and kick it and it's. not because he's. dumb no and that's I mean that's part of. a gag right that he he um she's going to. pull the football away at the last. moment he's going to go flying through. the air but the bigger part of the gag. is that he's going to keep trying and. you know that she's not going to let him. kick that football and yet he's going to. keep trying and trying you know know. like that's the Dual level that that.

peanuts exists on it's a good example of. that who was the. uh when when he when peanuts turned 100. there were some of the most major Comics. did tributes and you send along some of. those was that Mark Trail who let him. kick the football close who was it it. was Gil Thorp uh I didn't know Gil Thorp. so if you want to I actually I tears. were were brought to my eyes I'm not. going to lie I was crying the if you. want to just feel incredibly moved wait.

until the end of this episode and then. go look up the November 22nd. 2022 comic strip of Gil Thorp and you. will be moved it's amazing all the. tributes were amazing and it and it was. so cool to see Snoopy in A Garfield and. high and Lis even though I didn't like. them go in for marriage counseling with. Lucy like oh yeah it it's it was a. surreal like amazing Tri mash up and uh.

pretty wonderful thing yeah it was part. of this um this drive for basically. every comic artist um working at the. time to Bas to to create a tribute comic. on November 26 2022 which was like he. said Charles Schultz 100th birthday or. it would have been had had he lived to a. 100 Family Circus didn't do it they did. no they said jeffy's got to uh flush his. pencil down the toilet instead no they. did something I don't remember but it. wasn't like it wasn't dead.

on it was a little off now that you. mentioned it although So Family Circus. has one of the sweetest single panel. Comics I've ever seen in my life though. I saw years ago when it when it came out. and still to this day I think it's one. of the sweetest things ever it's little. did Jeffy step in the mud no Jeffy. wasn't even in the panel so you would. have loved it you know Jeff does the. Family Circus now oh is he the real son. yeah I feel terrible this is going to to. him a stuff you should know f um so.

little PJ the baby yeah is coming up. he's got his blanket with him he's in. his maybe little PJs or whatever huge. smile on his face and he's just gotten. up from a nap and it says the caption is. Here Comes. sunshine I love it see I I take it all. back Family Circus I loved it it was. wonderful it was wholesome uh but as a. kid who's into comedy it didn't deliver. the last that I needed sure. I'm trying to think of for me The Far.

Side was the first comic that I ever. like genuinely laughed at oh see that. didn't come along till I was older so. yeah same here I mean like it was the. mid 80s so I was easily 10 at least and. I'd just been sitting there dowly. reading comics up to that point oh see I. was I got I was laughing at all that. stuff I really yeah I loved all of them. like you said high and lowest Hagar the. Horrible all those I don't think any of. them ever made me laugh until Far Side.

came along all right so wait no I want. to talk more about that and that. phenomenal uh it didn't take long for. peanuts to become a really big deal um. just five years in when he was 33 years. old peanuts I'm sorry Schultz was named. cartoonist of the year yeah that's huge. so that's only five years in and then uh. 10 years after that uh peanuts was on. the cover of Time Magazine it's pretty. big too huge huge uh deal um I already.

mentioned sort of like you know you're. sort of like casting a play or or a TV. show but Charles Schultz actually talked. about that um that writing a comic is. like casting a drama company and that. these characters do grow and and change. over time and before he knew it um humor. started coming out of their little. mouths and it was he was almost like a. conduit it feels like yeah he definitely. was and what's remarkable though is over. 50 years he never seemed to have gotten. of it out because I think you said.

earlier people widely consider the. Peanuts characters to all be parts of. Charles Schultz's psyche essentially art. spiegelman the guy who created Mouse. said that peanuts was Schultz breaking. himself up into child-sized pieces and. letting them go at each other for half a. century yeah and his widow Genie said. that um specific characters were were. meaningful to Schultz himself as far as. the psyche was concerned he said that. Charlie Brown was is wishy-washy and. insecure side Lucy's a smart Alex side.

which he enjoyed having um because. apparently he wasn't particularly good. at getting that out in person lioness. curious and thoughtful side and then. Snoopy this is important to me Snoopy is. the way I would like to be Fearless the. life of the party and brushing off. Lucy's bad temper with a glance and kiss. and don't you think it's telling that he. made the character that he aspires to be. the most the. dog telling in what sense I think it. just says a lot about him that like. at the very least he thought highly of.

dogs oh he loved his dogs right and I. think that's pretty difficult to dislike. anybody who loves dogs like that you. know that Garfield guy hates cats uh. yeah yeah he loathes them I collected. those books too actually well now they. think about the first one that really. not the first one that made me laugh but. the first one that hit me on a second. level was uh Bloom County oh yeah yeah I. was huge into Garfield and Bloom County. I loved Garfield I had those books too.

they were World Class the colors too in. Garfield comics are really great I still. a cat that eats lasagna I still got all. those Bloom County books too those those. hold up oh yeah you you are you. bequeathing them to Ruby uh boy I mean. she she won't get them now that was for. no no I mean for adults oh sure she'll. get everything yeah good um but I want. to like show her at some point when. she's like 12 you're like hey you should. check out Bloom County there's a Pingu. who's friends with a uh crazy Street cat.

she's going to be. like so let's talk about some of these I. promise everybody that's the last time. I'll do that. this oh no we'll get emails that people. like more slide. whistle uh let's talk about some of. these main characters obviously we can't. hit them all because there were uh more. than 70 characters throughout peanuts uh. but we're going to hit the Big E of. course starting with Charlie Brown and. that iconic shirt uh that was another.

sort of thing with peanuts is that um. they would change clothes sometimes oh. yeah but like Charlie Brown had that. shirt on almost all the time Lucy wore. that blue dress for decades yeah until. they phased out the dress in the 80s and. then completely stopped putting her in. dresses in the 90s oh really what does. she wear I haven't noticed just pants. and a shirt like I think they they. change with the time a little bit like. why put a 90 2000s Lucy in a little like. 1950s girly dress gotcha um at least you.

know. full-time uh but Schultz said that. Charlie Brown of Charlie Brown we all. know what it's like to lose but Charlie. Brown kept losing outrageously it's not. that he's a loser he's really a decent. little sort so I think that's a a big. Point like Charlie Brown is constantly. losing but that's different than being a. loser those are two different things. yeah and in that sense you can consider. him like the the everyday person.

especially if you're coming at peanuts. and life from the the Viewpoint that the. the general. common thread in The Human Condition is. not like winning and feeling happy but. feeling dissatisfied and losing pretty. frequently that that's the thing that. all of us are equally accustomed to um. and Charlie Brown exemplifies that more. than anybody although if you really look. at peanuts pretty much every character. with the exception of maybe Woodstock.

and Snoopy more often than not did not. get what they wanted they they didn't. win they didn't get a good grade they. had trouble understanding things like if. you look at Peppermint Patty she was. good at sports terrible at school and. there were plenty of panels that had her. not understanding what the teacher was. saying or what she was even saying Marcy. her friend really good at school. terrible um socially she was very. awkward I think Charles Schultz. described her as a very strange little. girl. um so none of them were just.

like were were just like. one-dimensionally um happy or or or. winning in any way shape or form that's. just not how peanuts was or just. onedimensional no and that's the other. thing first there were plenty of like. background stock characters for sure. that weren't fully fleshed out but the. main characters that we're talking about. they were multi-dimensional for sure. yeah for sure um so back to Charlie. Brown he was bald which I always thought. was very strange uh he had that big moon.

head and that little squiggle of hair up. front that as a kid I even remember. thinking like what is going on with this. kid I'll never understand it um. apparently he patterned that after his. own quote Bland face that he had when he. was a baby so that's Charlie Brown um. Lucy Van Pelt is probably I mean I would. call her the second lead probably. okay wouldn't you I don't know there's.

Snoopy somehow in the mix there and but. I don't know if he'd be second lead lead. first he's just like almost on his own. trip off I think cupi is almost his own. thing it was almost like a spin-off. within a cartoon weird um but Lucy had. black hair uh again she had that blue. dress for many many years MH uh she was. born uh or at least born in the comic on. March 3rd 1952 and she was a toddler at. first but she quickly grew up he didn't. um I think he realized that there wasn't. uh as many dimensions uh with a toddler.

character right uh she's kind of. annoying and just crying and stuff so by. 53 like just a year later she was the. the wonderful fuss budget we all know as. as Lucy and um this is a good example of. a character being different like through. adult eyes uh when I was a kid I was. like Lucy is really mean she's a p she. is she's a real jerk she's super vain. she's always asking people how she looks. and if they don't say she's pretty.

enough she gets really upset uh but now. that I'm an an adult I look at Lucy and. I realize that Lucy is a young girl who. is deeply insecure and who has no idea. how to express her emotions in a. productive way right and these are like. adult things that you realize once you. get to be an adult but Lucy was was mean. she was really really mean to Linus you. just maybe insecure Chuck because I was. thinking how compassionate a view that. is but apparently that's just the.

grown-up view of Lucy which I haven't. attained yet he still thinks she's a. jerk I think she's awful yeah well maybe. it helps having an 8-year-old daughter. too and seeing insecurities and stuff. like that yeah but everything you just. said are all the reasons why Lucy is the. last character in the peanuts universe. who should put out a shingle um for. psychiatric help right and instead of a. lemonade stand offer psychiatric helped. anybody for 5 cents um and that's what a.

great bit yeah it is it is a wonderful. bit in and of itself and then also it's. a great bit in that even though um she's. terrible at it and she has her own. insecurities and is just an awful person. in a lot of ways at least on the surface. herself she's also maybe the one that's. in the best position to give out. psychological advice not with any kind. of Spoonful of Sugar but telling. sociopath yeah telling things as it is. and like not not giving you a.

sugarcoated version of reality but. saying like you need to just do this. yeah for sure um one of my favorite. panels that I was uh or strips that I. was kind of looking through over the. last few days was uh cuz Schultz has. talked about every character has their. own weakness and he said hers is. Schroeder yeah um she could be. sentimental with him and that was one. panel where she asked him why he never. gave her flowers and he said because I. don't like you and she said said well. the flowers wouldn't. care so she had her moments like she was.

super mean to line us she would one of. the running bits was trying to um get. rid of his his little WBY his security. blanket M like she buried it she burned. it she cut it up into little pieces uh. in one storyline she made it into a kite. and let go of it and it flew all over. the world and the Air Force rescued it. over the ocean nice and brought it back. so she was really mean to line us but. there was one comic where she said um.

she demanded to know from lonus what she. has to be grateful for and he said you. have a brother who loves you and she. bust out crying and hugs him yeah that's. very sweet so again it's a little girl. who's just insecure and doesn't know how. to deal with emotion okay all right fine. fine she's great Love Lucy um about. Scher though one of so sher's the kid. with the piano yeah who plays Beethoven. worships Beethoven was um if you look at. the ones where he's playing the piano in.

those panels there is um like musical. scales and notes like instead of. dialogue Bubbles at the top of the panel. right yeah those were all handdrawn and. hand lettered by Charles Schultz he he. found it very tedious but important. because they were accurate um they were. they were accurate transcriptions of. snatches of Beethoven's music so if you. know how to play the piano and you. looked at that Peanuts comic you could. play what schroer was playing at that.

time amazing isn't that amazing that's. serious. accuracy uh all right Hey listen I got. something to pitch what this thing is. going to be way long yeah so I say we. make this a two-parter let's take a. break okay and then maybe come back and. talk about. lonus and Snoopy I say we save Snoopy. for part two all right we'll take a. break we'll come back we'll talk a. little bit about lonus and then I'm. sorry everyone this is just too robust. we're going to make this a two-parter so.

we'll be right. back learning stuff with. josua and. Sh stuff you. should. okay Chuck we're back we were talking. about Lucy you said she was super mean.

to lonus and uh I would say that's in. part because lonus was Lucy's little. brother is Lucy's little brother I don't. know why I'm talking about them in past. tense they're still very much alive. yeah yeah for sure I mean it nails like. so many sibling Dynamics I think um. while there are older sisters who are. very caring and loving for their. youngers there are some who are and. older siblings period who like did not. want that baby around and from the.

beginning Lucy didn't want a little. brother and in fact when Sally Brown. came along Charlie's little sister Lucy. was very jealous cuz she said that she. wanted a little sister oh yeah and I'm. just like poor lonus poor guy yeah well. poor rerun too they they both had a a. younger brother even younger than. lionist named run yeah I wouldn't around. for rerun when did he come. around I don't know I wish you hadn't. asked me that but he was around for a. while. okay I I think that moves maybe after I.

stopped reading the comic so let's talk. about lonus for a second because um a. lot of people consider him a some sort. of Genius or at least precociously. intelligent for sure um one of the. reasons why is because he he frequently. cites philosophers he's just clearly. well- read he loves school um his. teacher Miss Oar he's quoted as saying. that she's a gem of gems and he can't. imagine that she would ever accept money.

for teaching because she's just such a. purist and and so talented at at being a. teacher like what kid says that right um. so yeah and at the same time though um. one of the contradictions in terms of. lonus is that he also is Far and Away. the firmest believer in the Great. Pumpkin yeah there's a really great um. strip with him writing a letter to the. Great Pumpkin asking him to bring him. some toys and then at the end of the the. letter he says um and by the way if. you're not real don't tell me cuz I.

don't want to know yeah yeah it is very. sweet that this kid who talks about. philosophy and like the high Arts is a. believer in the Great Pumpkin and also. very uh sensitive he's he's easily the. most sensitive like kind of purest. character in the peanuts catalog I think. yeah uh he's he's got that security. blanket and apparently Charles Schultz. um if he didn't coin that term security. blanket he he made it what it was and.

popularized it as such as a as something. a child will have mhm yeah which is. pretty amazing yeah so the original. security blanket was an actual blanket. that you pinned to the crib or the bed. so that your kid couldn't. move yeah it's called super dangerous. yeah and also like torture I think is. another word for it um and then the the. military and defense sector picked it up. and used it as a metaphor for the the. measures and links you went to to keep.

state secret secret but it was Charles. Schulz who was like no this has has to. do with angst and anxiety and um that's. that's it was lonus who spread the. gospel to the world about security. blankets yeah I called it a wubby. earlier and that is stolen directly from. Mr Mom oh yeah who I think originated. that term yeah wubby's a great great. word for it too yeah or Binky I'm not. sure who who made that one up but Binky. is a big. one I don't either I can't even Hazard a. guess but I've heard that one too before.

um did you have a blankie I had a. blankie you had a blankie yes man that. thing was tattered by the time I gave. that up yeah I had a pillow I don't. remember if I had a name for it but it. was this little kind of like a hand. pillow if that's the thing it wasn't. like a fullsize pillow and I would uh oh. man this is just coming back to me I. would rub it between my fingers like. over the finger and then down the Little. Valley between the fing over and over. and over and I also stick it in my ear.

and I remember this was a white pillow. and this thing was so. disgusting by the time I got rid of it. from like ear wax and finger G mhm that. uh I don't mean my mom certainly would. have never said like it's time for that. to leave right but it may have just you. know disappeared I don't remember it. went to go live on a farm yeah exactly. no yeah with my goat that's exactly what. happened um what else you got well I. mean that's all I got online us I think. that's a good robust part one I think so.

too so let's start part two in a minute. okay sure uh reminder to everyone to go. out and uh get tickets for our live show. this year yeah there won't be any. listener mail so we'll just throw in a. live show uh tour plug how about that. yeah so go to stuff you should know.com. or link tree ssk and you can get info. and tickets uh yeah that's a great idea. Chuck yeah so don't wrap up an email and. spank it on the bottom yet you got to. wait right not yet here's the awkward um. non- clapping transition for a very.

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