Make Way for the Peanuts Gang

Charles M. Schulz could arguably be called the world’s most beloved cartoonist. From his clever imagination sprang the likes of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Lucy, Linus and other memorable characters. With a combination of sarcasm and warmth, Schulz’s seemingly minimalist drawings and sharp wit kept the world smiling from 1950 until he retired in 1999. Schulz created nearly 18,000 comic strips during his prolific career, and his Classic Peanuts strips continue to provide intergenerational appeal to this day.

This summer the Elmhurst Historical Museum marks the 65th anniversary of the Peanuts gang with the opening of “Pigskin Peanuts,” a traveling exhibition organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. The exhibit, which was last shown at the William J. Clinton Library in Arkansas, will be on display at the Elmhurst Historical Museum, located at 120 E. Park Ave. in Elmhurst, from June 12 through August 9, 2015.

While fans might associate Peanuts with the game of baseball, football also figured prominently in the comic strip. Schulz created over 250 football-themed Peanuts comic strips and his “Fall Classic”—Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown just as he runs up to kick it—became a rite of autumn in American pop culture. Who can forget the “Mad Punters’” exuberant capers, Woodstock’s valiant gridiron efforts, Marcie’s total ineptitude at the game, or the passion and ferocity which marked Peppermint Patty’s play?

The “Pigskin Peanuts” exhibit features 50 Sunday and daily strips that demonstrate the fun Schulz had with the sport and explore the wonderful world inhabited by the Peanuts gang. Visitors will also enjoy viewing football-themed Peanuts objects and memorabilia, dressing up in the team locker room, taking a photo-op on a football trading card, and reenacting Lucy’s infamous prank of pulling the football from Charlie Brown.