October 2, 1950. Charles Schulz sold his cartoon strip to United Feature Syndicate and "Peanuts" was born. The first four-frame strip titled "Good Ol' Charlie Brown" depicted two little kids about five or six years old watching Charlie Brown walk down the street. One says to the other: "Good Ol' Charlie Brown...how I hate him!" Charlie Brown's beagle, Snoopy, debuted on October 4. The other most popular characters such as Linus and Lucy came to life in following years. It has been alleged that creator Schulz used events in his own life to glean material for "Peanuts." I particularly like the time Snoopy opens a rejection letter from a publisher that states: "You are a terrible writer. Why do you bother us?...Leave us alone. Drop dead." Schulz is allegedly recalling the time his high school refused to put his drawings in the class yearbook. Numerous people wrote to Schulz to ask why he wouldn't let Charlie Brown kick the football Lucy held out for him to kick every year during football season. The answer was always, "Well, there is nothing funny about the person who gets to kick the football." Schulz explained that "Charlie Brown must be the one who suffers, because he's a caricature of the average person.... Most of us are much more acquainted with losing than winning. Winning is great, but it isn't funny." However, in 1999, when his long career as the creator of "Peanuts" comics came to an end, he mused, "All of a sudden I thought,'You poor kid, he never even got to kick the football. What a dirty trick--he never had a chance to kick the football!'" Like Charles Schulz, I wish he had.
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