ThesePeanutscartoons from August 1964 offer a retrospective look at Charles Schulz' legendary comic strip while it was still in its early years – at least, relatively speaking, as it neared fifteen years in publication, out of an eventual run that spanned half-a-century. These selections from ‘64 exhibit Charles Schulz’s keen understanding of his creations, and how he allowed them to change and grow.
A very highly regarded decade forPeanuts,the comic strips of the 1960s managed to always elicit laughs, while continuing already established running gags, or adding on to them, as seen in the case of Snoopy’s doghouse.
As the ’60s progressed, iconic beagle Snoopy became steadily less dog-like, and more anthropomorphized. More fantastical elements also began to appear in the strip during this era; to once more use Snoopy as an example, some of his funniest logic-defying doghouse jokes originated in this time period – making it essential to revisit for allPeanutsfans.
10"Blue Jays Scare Me To Death"
First Published: August 04, 2025
For someone who would eventually have a bird for a best pal, Snoopy did not get off to the best start with the feathered creatures. BeforeWoodstock designated himself Snoopy’s assistant and friend, there were birds that would spend time in Charlie Brown’s yard and on Snoopy’s doghouse. The birds that predated Woodstock were not always a welcome presence for Snoopy, as indicated by this comic strip,where Snoopy screams and jumps in terror at the sight of blue jays.
While Snoopy would eventually get along well with other species of birds, for whatever reason, it is blue jays specifically that makes him fearful like no other. It is not all that often that readers see Snoopy scared and shaken, with this comic being an interesting look at the beloved beagle’s personality.
9"I Don’t Understand These Managers Who Refuse To Use Good Strategy"
First Published: June 28, 2025
Unfortunately for thePeanutskids, they can’t ever seem to win a baseball game…unless Charlie Brown is absent. Regardless, as manager ofthePeanutsbaseball team, he is there pretty much all the time, so they lose pretty much all the time.Lucy, trying to win for a change, suggests that they enact the strategy of telling the opposing team the wrong game location so thePeanutsteam can win by forfeit.
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Apparently, a win is a win in Lucy’s book, fair or not. Charlie Brown will have none of this plan, though, and Lucy is left frustrated that her team manager does not recognize her fool-proof strategy. She should’ve known that Charlie Brown would prefer to play fair and square; he has never been one to play fast and loose with the rules.
8"They Were Talking About Me!"
First Published: August 24, 2025
MostPeanutsreaders know that Woodstock speaks in a “chicken scratch” language, which only other birds and Snoopy seem to understand, but many might not realize that the birds who pre-datedWoodstockinPeanutshistory actually started this trend. Unfortunately for Snoopy, he already knew this dialect even before getting to know Woodstock, leading him to overhear two birdstalking about him at the Brown family’s birdbath.Based on Snoopy’s face, the birds were definitely not talking kindly about him.
Things would eventually be better between Snoopy and birds, starting with his friendship with Woodstock and then his time as a leader of ascout troop consisting of all birds, the Beagle Scouts. However, before those fateful relationships with important birds of thePeanutsuniverse, Snoopy was stuck being terrified by blue jays or being gossiped about by some mean-spirited birds.
7"I Don’t Think You Musicians Know What Love Is"
First Published: June 25, 2025
Lucy can be a bit heavy-handed, a factno one knows more than Schroeder. Lucy tries and tries, to no avail, to get him to steer away from his piano and switch his attention to her. At her breaking point in this strip, she lambasts Schroeder, and musicians in general, for only having one-track minds for music, never giving any attention to love. In turn,Schroeder meets his own breaking point, loudly playing a tune so it drowns Lucy’s commentary out, hilariously depicted in the final pane as music notes obscuring her mouth.
While Lucy is no doubt seething at Schroder, he is no longer bothered, happily going back to playing piano his piano. It is easy to see where Lucy is coming from with her lecture, so as beneficial as Schroeder’s actions may be for himself, it only helps to prove Lucy’s case.
6"I Mailed It Out As A Self-Addressed Envelope"
First Published: July 18, 2025
Linus has a special attachmentto his security blanket, more so than any kid ever. He goes to insane lengths to keep his blanket safe with him. As much as Linus loves his blanket, he still has people (and dogs) trying to take it from him, including his own sister Lucy, Snoopy, and even his grandmother. While Linus, of course, loves his grandmother and likes it when she visits, the fact that she will try to take away his blanket is enough to fill him with dread and fear.
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He can’t even hide the blanket because his grandmother knows all his hiding places.Pushed to get creative in order to have his security blanket safe and sound, he enacts a pretty ingenious plan:he mails the blanket to himself, so that it will be safely in the hands of the United States Post Office while his grandma is visiting, and it will come back to him when she is gone.
5"What I Need Is A Permanent Custodian!"
First Published: August 15, 2025
Snoopy’s doghouse has a much bigger interior than it seems, in a classic running gag inPeanutsthat first appeared in January 1954. Over the next decade, Snoopy’s doghouse grew more extravagant and huge.In 1964, it was further established that his doghousehad a library with fluorescent lights. Given that Snoopy has a lifetime goal of finishing the behemoth Tolstoy novelWar and Peace, it’s not all that surprising that the pup would have a library in his unassuming mega mansion.
Linus lived inside Snoopy’s doghouse for a time, duringPeanuts’ May 1972 series of strips, after Lucy kicked him out of the Van Pelt house.
Given that Snoopy’s doghouse seems to be a never-ending labyrinth of luxury, he thinks that he needs a permanent custodian for his humble abode,instead of just Linus and Charlie Brown doing routine maintenance as needed. Here, it is obvious Snoopy is the king of his castle, explaining why he does not lift a finger to help Charlie Brown and Linus replace the lights in his own house.
4"You Always Have To Say Something Sarcastic, Don’t You?"
First Published: July 21, 2025
ThePeanutsbaseball team has a shockingly low number of wins. Whileeveryone may like to blame Charlie Brownfor their substandard track record, Lucy is actually the all-around worst player on the team. Everyone seems to be aware of this, even her, as emphasized by the comic strip. When Lucy tries to give a pep talk to Charlie Brown, since it is the last game of the season, Charlie Brown attempts to give one right back at her.
However, Lucy is not having it,thinking that Charlie Brown’s words to her to play her best are just him being sarcastic about her dreadful baseball playing skills.As usual, Charlie Brown can’t seem to please anyone; he tried to motivate Lucy, and instead, Lucy is insulted instead, in a classicPeanutsbit of miscommunication.
3"Someone Left The Light On Over The Pool Table"
First Published: July 09, 2025
Just several days earlier,Peanutsreaders learned that Snoopy’s doghouse has a library – now, here, Charles Schulz reveals that it also contains pool table,as Snoopy attempts to snooze on his roof, only to be awoken by a light from within, which he immediately knows is the one “over the pool table.”
According toPeanutscreator Charles Schulz, he had Snoopy start sleeping on top of his doghouse, instead of inside, because he believed that over the course of the strip’s run, Snoopy had become so unlike a dog that he could no longer be limited to stereotypical dog behavior.
Snoopy does not seem to mind all too much that he has to sleep outside, but he does get miffed when the light above the pool table is left on, keeping him awake. As was the case inso many hilariousPeanutscomics, Snoopy has a unique take on that problem with his pool table and the Mary Poppins bag of a doghouse he has.
First Published: July 12, 2025
For a lot of kids, it can be a treat to camp outside, even if it is just in the backyard. Charlie Brown sets aside his neuroticsm for the night and excitedly tells Snoopy that his mom is allowing him to sleep in a tent in the backyard.Snoopy seems very overjoyed at this as well, not due to any sort of excitement that they can camp together, but because that means he gets to sleep in his owner’s bed.
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Having Charlie Brown’s bed all to himself isa major treat for Snoopy, who is typically used to sleeping on top of a doghouse roof, which can’t be too comfy. It might be easy to assume that Snoopy would want to camp with Charlie Brown. However, Snoopy is one beagle who likes the comforts of home, even if it is not his room.
1"The Whole Trouble With You Is You Don’t Understand The Meaning Of Life"
First Published: August 01, 2025
Lucy likes to fancy herself a psychiatrist and life coach of sorts. Does she have the caring nature to do such duties? No, not at all, but that has never stopped Lucy before, as seen in thismemorablePeanutscomic strip. Berating Charlie Brown for not understanding the meaning of life,Charlie Brown turns the tables on her and asks if she understands it, to which she does some classic deflecting and reminds him that they’re talking about him, not her.
It is safe to say that Lucy does not know anymore about the meaning of life than Charlie Brown, but she would never let him know that, always having to be a know-it-all. While everyone may point at Charlie Brown as being the neurotic one of thePeanutsgroup, Lucy is not much better off, stuck in her own existential questioning like any normal eight-year-old tends to do.
Peanuts
Created by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts is a multimedia franchise that began as a comic strip in the 1950s and eventually expanded to include films and a television series. Peanuts follows the daily adventures of the Peanuts gang, with Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy at the center of them. Aside from the film released in 2015, the franchise also has several Holiday specials that air regularly on U.S. Television during their appropriate seasons.
