My all-time favorite newspaper comic strip was Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. I read it for decades and got to know the characters better than must humans in my life — Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and the rest of the gang.
I certainly wasn’t the only one who read the strip. Tens of millions of others did as well. At the time of Schulz’s death, Peanuts was printed in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and in 21 languages. In addition to its success as a comic strip, Peanuts has been featured in dozens of TV specials and films. While it’s not mentioned much, all this success must have made Mr. Schulz a very wealthy man.
Charles M. Schulz (nicknamed “Sparky”) was born in Minneapolis in 1922 but spend the last half of his life in Santa Rosa, California, where he died in 2000. He began drawing the Peanuts strip around 1950 and continued it until he died, completing almost 18,000 comic strips in a career spanning more than a half century. With his passing, the Peanuts strip was retired with no one else continuing the series. Schulz’s work is still reissued and can also be found in your local library or bookstore. Sparky loved what he did and left behind an amazing legacy. While he considered himself a boring person, much like Charlie Brown, he led a full life. If you are interested in learning more about the man, I suggest you visit this link.
The Charles M. Schulz Museum opened in 2002. It had been planned while Schulz was alive, but he never lived to see the finished product. When the chance to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa recently presented itself, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity.
(From the entry to the Charles M. Schulz Museum)
The Museum is located on the property Charles Schulz spent the last thirty years of his life drawing and “hanging out.” In 1969 the Schulz family built an ice arena, Snoopy’s Home Ice, and the Warm Puppy Café for the community to enjoy. Schulz ate breakfast and lunch at the same table in the Warm Puppy Cafe almost every day. He enjoyed playing hockey and hosted ice shows featuring celebrity figure skaters at his ice arena. His life revolved around his work, family and friends, and the ice rink.
The Charles M Schulz Museum is a lovely facility. In its 27,000 square feet, you can spend hours immersing yourself in all things Peanuts as it hosts the largest collection of Peanuts material in the world. There are permanent exhibits, as well as temporary rotating exhibits.
(Main hall of the Charles M. Schulz Museum)
Here are some of my favorite permanent exhibits at the Museum:
The Peanuts Tile Mural was created by Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani. It measures about than 17 x 22 feet and features an image of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown (we all know how that turned out, don’t we?)
The mural is composed of 3,588 Peanuts comic strip images printed on individual 2 x 8 inch ceramic tiles. As you approached the wall, the panels emerge from the image, as you can see in these progressive close-ups:
Morphing Snoopy: Mr. Otani also designed and created this sculpture. It shows Snoopy’s character evolving over the decades, from a simple pet dog to a complicated character and celebrity.
Charles Schulz’s studio has been recreated at the museum. This was where he spent much of his time, creating the comic strip we all loved. It contains his workspace, personal photos and effects, and bookcases filled with his books and mementos.
The photo of Schulz’s desk and drawing table was featured as last weekend’s One Clue Mystery. It was recognized by Jonathan L and George G — congratulations to both! Turns out that Jonathan had visited the museum at almost the same time I did!
The Museum also features fairly extensive biographical and archival materials of Schulz’s life, a sampling of which includes:
A favorite exhibit features Snoopy’s relationship with NASA and space travel. Schulz was proud of his role in helping promote the US space program.
The main temporary exhibit when we visited was “It’s Time for School, Charlie Brown”. It had special displays created for the exhibit, as well as dozens of Schulz’s original comic strips for all to enjoy. I found it a pleasure to wander through! A few images of this follow:
(Isn’t this how we all viewed the classroom clock?)
For those who are interested, you can pose for a photo in Lucy’s counseling booth.
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Aside from the Museum itself, across the street is the ice arena (Snoopy’s Home Ice)….
…..and its cafe (The Warm Puppy Cafe), as well as a gift shop.
Schulz loved to play hockey and did much to introduce a skating culture to his adopted home city of Santa Rosa, California. This legacy continues to this day.
If you visit:
We spent a half day at the museum and surrounding complex and had a good visit, but there’s more to the museum than is out lined in this post and we could have used the entire day. The museum is very family friendly, with lots to keep children entertained.
Here are the current hours and admission prices but check with the Museum’s website for up-to-date information.
Monday–Friday 11:00 am–5:00 pm (closed Tuesdays*)
Saturday–Sunday 10:00 am–5:00 pm
*Open Tuesdays from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Adults — $12
Seniors (age 62 and over with ID) — $8
Students and children — $5
Children under 3 — free
Parking is plentiful and free.
