Schulz's art style was a sharp contrast from how Peanuts was drawn at this point, taking several years to resemble its peak form. That being said, 1950 still proved, despite not even having Sunday strips yet, how memorable his characters could be, and the potential for them to be fleshed out. The best Peanuts comic strips from 1950 featured characters who'd soon become ubiquitous pop culture icons, with some early and amusing moments for Charlie Brown and Snoopy that have aged particularly well.
6
I Didn't Say It Was Ice Cream
October 28, 1950
Shermy is an innately forgettable and oftentimes generic character in Peanuts, thus why he was phased out only a few years later. Yet, he's responsible for one of Charlie Brown's greatest defining moments as a character, albeit indirectly. It speaks to the weird antics kids could conceivably get up to. Frankly, with strips like that from October 28, Shermy could have been far more memorable if Schulz had leaned into his absurdity more often, as this was one of his finest moments.
In this strip, the punchline makes for one of Shermy's funniest moments, where Patty sees what she assumes to be Shermy snacking on an ice cream cone, asking for a bite, only to be disgusted when Shermy reveals it's mashed potato. By and large, this is just an absurd premise, but works well as a visual gag while being somewhat grounded in reality: movie and TV magic included making "fake ice cream" with mashed potatoes more commonly once upon a time.
5
Snoopy-In-The-Box
October 20, 1950
Snoopy was a far cry from what he'd be by the end of Peanuts 50 years later. He didn't have a World-Famous Author or Flying Ace persona to his credit, took no memorable naps atop his doghouse, and even used to walk on all-fours, something of an oddity considering the mythical status he'd obtain following his visual transformation. This particular Peanuts strip features Snoopy's intelligence manifesting in a more grounded application rather than flights of fancy, as he pulls a prank on Shermy.
Being started by the classic Jack-in-the-box toy, Snoopy quickly hatched a simple scheme: hide in a similar box, and spook Shermy instead. It's a wordless comic strip that shows Snoopy's exceptional cleverness as a dog, and things especially look not great for Shermy as the least memorable component of this particular strip.
4
Just Plain Charlie Brown
November 23, 1950
While there were certainly flashpoints more strongly suggesting Charlie Brown's melancholy, depressive side, his anxiety supplanted a more upbeat origin even a month and a half after his debut. Patty kicks things off innocently enough, speaking to her admiration for President Abraham Lincoln, asking if the boy would like to have lived that life.
I have a hard enough time being just plain Charlie Brown!
What comes next is pure Charlie Brown charm, putting his own life into perspective and being amusingly honest about how overwhelmed he is just by his own existence. His body language reflects it more strongly, too, his previously relaxed position on a tipped-back chair disrupted by Patty's reasonable question, him getting up, slumping his shoulders, and saying more than Patty perhaps bargained for. It's an underrated demonstration of this Peanuts legend emerging as something of a downer, and thriving for it in an underdog sort of way.
3
Good Ol' Charlie Brown
October 2, 1950
The very first Peanuts comic strip features Charlie Brown as the only character referred to by name, with Patty and Shermy watching as he cheerfully walks by, minding his business. But as he passes by them, Shermy seems to greet him pleasantly, only to then say in passing as Charlie Brown walks by what he really thinks.
October 2, 1950 – February 13, 2000 · 17,897 Strips
How Well Do You Know Peanuts?
“Good grief!”
⚾Charlie BrownGood Ol’ Chuck
🐕SnoopyThe Flying Ace
🧣LinusSecurity Blanket
🏈LucyPsychiatric Help
🐥WoodstockBest Friend
PLAY BALL →
01
Before Peanuts launched in 1950, Charles M. Schulz drew a weekly cartoon panel for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. What was it called?
ALi’l Folks
BSmall Fry
CThe Sandlot
DJust Kids
✓ Correct! Li’l Folks ran from 1947 to 1950.
When the syndicate renamed the new strip “Peanuts,” Schulz hated the title for the rest
of his life.
✗ Not quite! It was Li’l Folks — and
Schulz never forgave United Feature for rechristening his strip “Peanuts.”
NEXT →
02
Which member of the gang is almost never seen without his security blanket — and waits every year in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin?
ASchroeder
BLinus van Pelt
CPig-Pen
DShermy
✓ Correct! Linus — Lucy’s little
brother, the strip’s resident theologian, and the reason “security blanket”
entered the dictionary.
✗ Not quite! It’s Linus van Pelt, whose blanket gave
the English language the term “security blanket.”
NEXT →
03
Schroeder hammers away at his toy piano in devotion to a single composer — whose bust sits on top of it. Who?
AJohann Sebastian Bach
BWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
CLudwig van Beethoven
DFrédéric Chopin
✓ Correct! Beethoven. Schroeder even observes
Beethoven’s birthday every December 16 — while ignoring Lucy entirely.
✗ Not quite! It’s Beethoven — the one thing in
the world Schroeder loves more than tuning out Lucy.
NEXT →
04
When Snoopy climbs onto his doghouse in goggles and a scarf, he becomes the World War I Flying Ace — forever hunting which nemesis?
AThe Cat Next Door
BThe Head Beagle
CThe Great Pumpkin
DThe Red Baron
✓ Correct! The Red Baron — and the Sopwith
Camel doghouse always goes down in flames, sending the Ace off to curse him in a French café.
✗ Not quite! It’s the Red Baron. Snoopy’s
doghouse is a Sopwith Camel, and it never once wins the dogfight.
NEXT →
05
Lucy runs a curbside psychiatric help booth out of a lemonade stand. What does she charge per session?
A1¢
B5¢
C10¢
D25¢
✓ Correct! Five cents, please. The nickel never
went up in 50 years — and the advice was never once worth it.
✗ Not quite! It’s 5¢ — “The doctor is
in.” Lucy held that price for half a century.
NEXT →
06
Snoopy’s tiny yellow best friend went unnamed for years before Schulz finally christened him. What was he named after?
AA brand of birdseed
BSchulz’s hometown in Minnesota
CThe 1969 Woodstock music festival
DA character from a Beethoven opera
✓ Correct! Woodstock got his name in 1970,
borrowed straight from the music festival held the summer before.
✗ Not quite! He’s named for the 1969 Woodstock festival
— Schulz gave the bird the name in 1970, years after he first appeared.
NEXT →
07
The jazz score for A Charlie Brown Christmas — including the immortal “Linus and Lucy” — was written by which musician?
AVince Guaraldi
BDave Brubeck
CHenry Mancini
DDuke Ellington
✓ Correct! Pianist Vince Guaraldi scored the 1965
special, and network executives were sure the jazz soundtrack would sink it. It became a permanent
holiday fixture.
✗ Not quite! It’s Vince Guaraldi, whose trio gave
Peanuts its unmistakable sound.
NEXT →
08
Schulz drew every Peanuts strip himself for nearly 50 years. What made the final original Sunday strip — February 13, 2000 — so haunting?
ACharlie Brown finally kicked the football
BThe Little Red-Haired Girl was shown at last
CIt was the only strip Schulz left unfinished
DIt ran the morning after Schulz died
✓ Correct! Schulz died the evening of
February 12, 2000 — and his farewell strip, signed off with “Charlie Brown,
Snoopy, Linus, Lucy... how can I ever forget them,” appeared in papers the very next morning.
✗ Not quite! Schulz died on February 12, 2000 — hours
before his own farewell strip ran in the Sunday papers.
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The Doctor Is In · Five Cents, Please
Your Peanuts Report Card
⚾
/ 8
Good grief — or good ol’ Charlie Brown? Either way, the football is still there. Wanna try again?
⤴ ONE MORE KICK
It's odd, and is somewhat mean-spirited compared to the more comical mockery and pranks Charlie Brown would later experience across nearly 50 years of serialization. If anything, with friends like Shermy in this case, it's fair to see why Charlie Brown developed his more anxious persona everybody would soon know and love.
2
Hello, Operator?
December 30, 1950
One of the clearest signs of Charlie Brown's personality beginning to surface as a frequently lonesome child who, despite his insecurities and sensitivity, pushes on and finds a solution. This particular situation in Peanuts, the final installment of 1950 and only nine days after he got his signature zig-zag shirt design, is adorable, if also reasonbly sad.
Charlie Brown is seen lonely at home, deciding to ring up the telephone operator so he can have a conversation partner. While this is already an incredibly dated reference to a bygone era in telecommunications, it can still be shown in today's world, from seeking out friends while gaming online, or even resorting to AI chatbots, none of which are good substitutes for human friendship and closeness. It's times like these that perhaps Schulz's own loneliness and depression, speaking through Charlie Brown in what's not the first, nor the last time across the Peanuts run.
1
Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown!
October 30, 1950
This particular strip solidified multiple things for Charlie Brown: October 30 was his canonical day and month of birth; Patty and Shermy weren't necessarily the best friends; and Schulz was truly talented at turning moments that'd probably haunt most real kids into hilarious four-panel strips. It's possibly the funniest and easily the best Peanuts comic strip from its 1950 debut.
This particular scene challenges the timeless platitude of "it's the thought that counts" with two kids who, suspecting it's Charlie Brown's birthday, decide to bring him a plate as empty as their gesture. No cake, no candles. The two decided only to give him their best wishes. It's the exact sort of earnest attempt at thoughtfulness without seeing from all the angles plenty of people are guilty of as kids, saying, "we aren't sure if we forgot your birthday, or if we know how old you are, but we definitely got you nothing" as a truly underrated Peanuts comic strip.
Cast
Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Bill Melendez, Sally Dryer, Peter Robbins, Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Mariel Sheets, Lisa DeFaria, Venus Omega Schultheis
Created by
Charles M. Schulz
Movie(s)
The Peanuts Movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown's All Stars!, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
Character(s)
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Sally Brown, Pig-Pen, Marcie (Peanuts), Peppermint Patty, Woodstock
English (US) ·