School lunch can be a highlight of the day for some kids - or a hated hour like it is for Charlie Brown ofPeanuts. No one hates lunch hour quite like Charlie Brown does, with many strips as evidence. However, Charlie Brown is not the onlyPeanutscharacter who is shown at school lunch.
In fact, mostPeanutscharacters have been shown at school lunch at one point or another. Interestingly, the comics that show the characters at school lunch each give a further glimpse into their personalities. For instance, at lunch, Eudora reveals a strange personality quirk, Charlie Brown exhibits his tendencies for loneliness and downward spiraling, and Linus’s surprisingly complicated relationship with his mother is shown. Consequently, readerslearn even more about the characters based on their behaviors at school lunch.
10"I Hate Lunch Hour!"
November 11th, 1963
Charlie Brown is not a fanof lunchtime at school. In fact, he hates it, counting down the lunch hour, ready for it to be over as soon as possible. It certainly does not help his hatred of lunch hour that he is stuck sitting all alone while he eats the same old lunch of peanut butter sandwiches day in and day out. Being by himself,Charlie Brown’s downtrodden characteristics and neuroticism come outin full force during lunch hour. He will frequently question if anyone likes him or cares about him, thinking of how lonely he is.
In this comic strip,eating yet another peanut butter sandwich while alone, Charlie Brown remarks that he knows that some mental health professionals have posited the theory that those who eat peanut butter sandwiches are lonely. Charlie Brown is in full agreement with the experience to prove it.
9"It Was the Kiss"
March 23rd, 1975
Sally jumps at any chance to spend time withher Sweet Babboo, Linus. Sitting by Sally at lunch on the field, Linus accidentally gets hit on the head with a runaway soccer ball. Worried about him,Sally kisses him after taking a bite from her peanut butter sandwich. When Linus goes to the nurse, it is not because of his head injury, but rather because Sally got peanut butter in his eye when she kissed him.
Sally getting peanut butter in the poor kid’s eye is just another thing to add to the long list of aggravations.
Frequently upsetting Linus with her overt shows of affection and declarations about their “relationship”, Sally getting peanut butter in the poor kid’s eye is just another thing to add to the long list of aggravations.Linus dodges an injury when his head is alright after getting hit with a soccer ball, butSally ends up injuring him regardless, much to his misfortune.
8"That’s Not an Even Trade, Franklin"
January 18th, 1993
When Peppermint Patty and Franklin discuss the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., they note the importance of the speech and how, before that momentous historical speech, the two friends of differing races would not have been able tosit at school togetheror trade lunch items. Franklin tries to trade a carrot stick for a french fry, butPeppermint Patty is not having it and lets him know right awaythat it is not an even trade.
Most people would be hard-pressed to find someone who prefers carrots to french fries, so one can understand where Peppermint Patty is coming from. While the conversation starts out insightful and deep, when the conversation turns to food,Peppermint Patty has a one-track mindand only thinks of the proposed carrot-french fry trade.
7"Don’t Fail Us… Be Diligent"
October 12th, 1962
Linus has an extreme attachment to his security blanket, more so than any other child.Charlie Brown begins to see the reason behind Linus’s need for his blanketwhen Linus reads out a lunch box note from his mother. The note is not the most uplifting or soothing, basically a note of nagging and guilting rather than affection. With a note like that to read at lunch, anyone would need a security blanket all the time.
Much like his buddy Charlie Brown, Linus has had his fair share of crushes over the years, even having one on Charlie Brown’s unrequited love, Little Red Haired Girl.
Linus can be quite wise and bright, but he can also get lost in strange behaviors like sucking his thumb well into elementary school age and his unwavering belief in a fictional character he created himself, the Great Pumpkin. After readers get a look at the note from Linus’s mom, it iseasier to understand where his more eccentric behaviors come from.
6"Nothing Takes the Taste Out of Peanut Butter Like Unrequited Love"
December 15th, 1964
Unrequited love is not exactly unheard of inPeanutslore. Just aboutevery one of the mainPeanutscast experiences unrequited loveat one point or another, even the very confident Snoopy.Charlie Brown especially knowswhat unrequited love is like, being its poster child. Having a major crush on the Little Red Haired Girl, he tends to admire her from afar a lot of the time.
He concentrates on her most intensely during lunch. Thinking of how he would love to eat lunch next to her, he contemplates that thinking of his unrequited love for Little Red Haired Girl haspretty much ruined his chances of enjoying the taste of his peanut butter sandwich.While most kids are having fun at lunch or enjoying their meal, poor Charlie Brown instead goes into a total negative spiral.
5"I Think I’ll Have the Ploughman’s Lunch"
July 20th, 1990
While technically set at summer camp, this strip is close enough to school lunch, both in food and setting. When Snoopy tags along with Charlie Brown for summer camp, it isreassuring for Charlie Brownto get to go with a close friend and someone from home. However,the meals may not be up to Snoopy’s specificationsonce he gets there, as he has to eat from the cafeteria.
Snoopy does not get what he ordered - not even a little bit.
When Snoopy asks for the hearty Ploughman’s Lunch, a typically English meal, he specifies exactly what he wants in it.Snoopy does not get what he ordered- not even a little bit. Instead, he gets a hot dog, which is nothing like what he actually ordered. Snoopy learns the hard way that a cafeteria, especially one at a school or camp, is not full of short-order cooks, and you get what you get.
4"This Is a Chocolate Sandwich"
October 5th, 1978
Sally’s best friend, Eudora - amongthe most underrated charactersof the strip - has some quirks of her own, much like her best pal. She, too, has a major crush on Linus, which has been known to cause some squabbles between the pair. Also, Eudora has an irrational fear of being eaten by an antelope. As one can see,she is eccentric, just like any otherPeanutscharacter. Another odd quirk of Eudora’s is that she has incredibly strange eating habits.
Having the tastebuds of an experimental culinary stoner,Eudora puts together the most unlikely (for a reason) foods together, usually to Sally’s disgust and nausea. For instance, in this strip, she has brought a chocolate sandwich - a chocolate bar in between two slices of bread (what a texturally unpleasant sandwich!) - for her school lunch. As if a chocolate sandwich was not already on the far side of weird, to take it one step further, she considers adding gravy.
3"Lunch Hour Is the Loneliest Hour of the Day"
January 20th, 1963
Lunch hour tends to be a timewhen Charlie Brown goesinto pity-party mode.He ruminates on his feelings of loneliness,unrequited love for the Little Red Haired Girl, and his self-loathing. Who knewPeanutscould get so dark? It comes as no surprise that Charlie Brown hates lunch hour so much when he spends the time engaging in hurtful thoughts about himself. Of course, the kids and even adults that pick on him or make him feel bad about himself definitely do not help matters.
“Shut Up And Leave Me Alone”: The Weirdest (And Possibly Rudest) Kid In the History Of Peanuts, Explained
In 1971, Charlie Brown had the displeasure of bunking with “Shut Up and Leave Me Alone” at summer camp, testing the Peanuts Gang’s eternal optimist.
If he had the guts to go up to the Little Red Haired Girl and ask to sit with her at lunch, a lot of birds would be killed with that one stone: he wouldn’t be stuck eating lunch alone anymore, he would get to spend time with his crush, andhis peanut butter sandwiches would finally taste better.
2"Peanut Butter It Is!"
February 17th, 1981
Charlie Brown and Sally aretypically shown with the same school lunch all the time: peanut butter sandwiches. The beloved spread is a staple of many kids' lunches. As much as Charlie Brown and Sally may enjoy their peanut butter sandwiches, that does not mean that they would not prefer something else from time to time. When Sally decides to do something really nice and thoughtful for her big brother, she offers to make both of their lunches.
Charlie Brown and Sally’s parents are never seen in the comics and are only referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Brown.
He, at first, mentions that his usual peanut butter sandwich would be just fine, but thenhe, for once, says what he would really want for lunch: a roast beef sandwich with the works. While Sally’s heart was in the right place for her offer, she is not about to do all that work just for Charlie Brown, so she makes an executive decision and stays with the tried and true PB sandwich.
1"I Made My Own Lunch"
April 25th, 1966
Linus has a complicated relationship withpacked lunches for school, especially thanks to his mom’s lunch box notes that put a lot of pressure on poor Linus or that lament about the duty of having to pack lunches. One day, Linus gets fed up with his mom’s complaining and takes it upon himself to make his own lunch for school. He is quite proud of himself, too. Although, his lunch is not exactly one of champions;his lunch bag is filled with not one, not two, but eight candy bars!
Nothing works better for getting a burst of energy in the middle of the day than a whopping eight candy bars. While Linus may be pretty wise and intelligent, he is still a kid. Consequently, only a kid - especially aPeanutskid - would think that a good lunch only consists of candy.
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.
