Here'a s a fun fact: CBS reluctantly aired A Charlie Brown Christmas for the first time in 1965. Fifty years later, we have a feeling they're pretty darn grateful they went ahead and broadcast it. Not only has it aired twice a year ever since, but its Emmy win propelled CBS, ABC, and Fox to order plenty of other Peanuts shows over the years (heck, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown bumped Grey's Anatomy out of its usual time slot for Halloween last week).
But, that's not where it all began. That dates back to October 2, 1950, when Charles Schulz had his first Peanuts comic strip run in the daily newspapers. And even though it's been 65 years, we're still just as obsessed with Snoopy and the whole gang. Which is why we took the liberty of finding out more from one very special person in Charles' life: Tom Everhart, the only artist to learn how Charles created the lines within his comic strip directly from Charles himself, and arguably the man's best friend for 20 years. Here's what you might not know about our favorite cartoon characters, and the creator of them.
1. A new Peanuts strip was printed every single day until the day after Charles Schulz's death.
That amounts to a grand total of 17,897 different strips published. He only took one vacation while Peanuts was running—a five-week vacation in 1997 to celebrate his 75th birthday—and that's the sole time reruns were ever published before his death. Charles passed away on February 12, 2000 from colon cancer, and the original strips stopped on February 13th. "That's more than outrageous," Tom says about the fact. "Do you know anyone who has been published every single day for 50 years? That means you must know how to communicate with people."
2. Snoopy was inspired by Charles' dog, Spike.
Charles would draw the family pet here and there, and he ate unusual objects, like pins and tacks. In 1937, Charles sent a drawing of Spike to Ripley's Believe It or Not, and it ended up being featured in Robert Ripley's syndicated panel. Funnily enough, though, he originally wanted to name the dog in his strip Sniffy. That name was already being used in a comic strip, though, so Charles changed it when he remembered his mother saying that if they ever got another family dog, it would be named Snoopy.
3. Charles' high school yearbook team rejected his drawings.
So, guess they consider that a mistake now. Sixty years later, the school's main office had a five-foot statue of Snoopy brought in.
4. Friends and family often called Charles "Sparky."
"That comes from way back when he was a child," says Tom. "He had an uncle that named him Sparky after the racehorse Spark Plug in the Barney Google comic strip."
5. Charlie Brown didn't originate in Peanuts.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press published Charles' first group of regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, from 1947 to 1950. It was then that he first named a character Charlie Brown, and the series had a dog that looked pretty similar to Snoopy. And no, he wasn't named after Charles, but rather a co-worker at the Art Instruction Inc.
6. There's something extraordinary about Snoopy.
Sure, we love the character, but Tom suggests taking a look at the drawings themselves again. "If you look at Snoopy, you'll see a side view of Snoopy's face, but a front view expression, and sometimes you'll see the black dot on his back and his tail," he reveals. "Sparky did that on purpose, because he knew that if you could see around the whole figure, you knew where you were—inside the comic strip; inside his story. That's also why, if you look at the desks drawn, you don't see the top—it's always the side view, what a child's perspective would be."
7. The women in Charles' life inspired many of the female characters.
This probably isn't all that surprising, but still worth noting. Charlie Brown's unrequited love, The Little Red-Headed Girl, was inspired by Donna Mae Johnson, an accountant at Art Instruction Inc. that he fell hard for. Charles eventually proposed to her in 1950, but she said no and married another man.
That's not all, though. Lucy was created with Charles' first wife, Joyce Halverson, in mind. And Peppermint Patty—not a romantic interest for Charlie Brown—was inspired by his cousin, Patricia Swanson. She got the peppermint nickname simply because Charles spotted peppermint candies in the house. Hey, if it sounds good, roll with it.
8. Fergie was the voice of Sally Brown from 1983 to 1985.
She was eight years old at the time, so it was well before singing about lovely lady lumps became a thing.
9. He regrets not letting Charlie Brown kick the football.
One of the most famous recurring themes in Peanuts is Charlie Brown's attempt to kick a football held by Lucy, only to have Lucy yank it away at the last second and Charlie would spin up and land flat on his back. When Charles was asked if Charlie Brown would get to finally kick the football, he said, "Oh, no. Definitely not. I couldn't have Charlie Brown kick that football; that would be a terrible disservice to him after nearly half a century." But later, when he was recounting the moment he signed the panel of his final strip, he said, "All of a sudden, I thought, 'You know, that poor, poor kid, he never even got to kick the football. What a dirty trick—he never had a chance to kick the football.'"
10. Everyone loves Peanuts.
Okay, you probably knew this already too. But at its peak, Peanuts was published in 75 countries and written in 21 different languages. So really, everyone loves Snoopy and good ole Charlie Brown.
11. Charles was BFF's with Tom, and (sort of) taught him how to draw his lines.
When the two first met, Tom spent his days drawing skeletons and gardens, but was commissioned to present design concepts to Charles' studios. "I got the job, and unfortunately I wasn't completely honest and they assumed I could do cartooning," he recalls. "I did too, and thought how hard could it be? After a few weeks, his work wasn't translating to me. I was about to admit to failure and tell the client that I couldn't do it...until I went to my studio, turned on the projector and accidentally had one of Sparky's strips on there. The perimeter of the strip was gone and there were just detail lines of his characters and backgrounds, and for some reason I understood exactly what was going on." From there, Tom created the drawings, impressed Charles, and the rest, as they say, is history.
12. There's an exhibit of never-before-seen paintings inspired by Peanuts available now.
Ever since 1988, when Tom was diagnosed with colon liver cancer and told he had two years to live, he realized he was inspired by the Peanuts characters and Charles' method of drawing them. "We would get together maybe every couple of months and draw lines together, talk on the phone every couple of days, and fax drawings back and forth all the time," says Tom. Finally ditching the skeletons and gardens, Tom started infusing his recreational hobby into his professional work. "In 1990, Sparky arranged a contract to protect me and to let me do this for the term of my life. He gave me permission to use his subject matter within my paintings for as long as I'm alive. That was so special."
Tom's still continuing that work, and considers it one way that he remembers one of his best friends. His latest gallery, I've Got Ants in my Pants And I Need to Dance, consists of nearly 70 pieces and revolves around the premise of involuntary creative thinking—the things in the world that you want to create, but weren't necessarily searching for.
The gallery can be viewed in New York City until December 1st, and all pieces are available for purchase. In other words, go get your Snoopy on, and maybe bring home a masterpiece while you're at it.
13. One of Tom's paintings is hiding in The Peanuts Movie.
Tom played a minor role in the production of the new film, as Charles' son, Craig, brought him in at the beginning of the film-making process to talk about the way Sparky thought about making art, says Tom. His reward? "My painting is in the movie somewhere. It's a painting of Lucy." Keep an eye out and see if you can spot it.
