Peanuts

In Santa Rosa CA., there is perhaps one of the finest museums' I have ever visited. Not fine because of the quantity of the works presented, or of the myriad of names of famous painters and sculptors.

Fine because I grew up as a fan of the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles Schultz. My dad was to be found at the breakfast table or the dining room table in the evenings with his nose in the newspaper. He would chuckle when reading the funnies and it was inevitable that when queried as to the source of the humor, the cause was of course, Peanuts.

My wife and I took the day this past weekend to visit the museum. I have been wanting to go for a long time and this was about the first chance we have had. I wasn't disappointed at all. Not only does the work presented invite the fan to glow in fond memories of strips we know. It also allows the viewer to go back in time and get a feel for the skill and love that was put into those strips. The 2 images here are from the very entry. Simple lines, but they speak volumes of the characters they depict.

Here is a "close-up" of the one of Linus. I always appreciated the calm and pensive demeanor Schultz always imbued in this character. I was never inspired to use a 'security blanket' because of this guy, but I have always appreciated the peace of mind one would bring.
Now, about this point, you're probably wondering why the heck these pictures are so small. Well, it was a big screw up on my part. Two actually... First, I forgot the digital camera. Totally spaced out and left the bugger at home. Then, somehow, the settings on the phone cam had been reset to minimum instead of the VGA setting.

The museum was nicely done. It wasn't so crowded that you felt that you might be missing a bunch of work. It's 2 stories high. On the bottom part is a small video viewing room that had a nice overview of the artist. Outside of that in the first hall were some cases with some of the strips as they had been inked and submitted for reproduction. It was cool to see the actual cut and paste of the logo on the box pattern and often inked on as part of the strip would impede on that.

On the outside walls are these two images of Charlie Brown and Lucy. Funny how we call him by first and last name, but all other characters are only a single name. I have always been a fan of Lucy (Van Pelt) in her Psychiatrist role. She was given a wisdom that was of course beyond her years.


There are also lots of articles and supporting notes that talks to the artistry and skill of the artist. A few times, you read how Schultz was able to, with just a few simple lines, relay strong emotion with which we all can relate as well as pathos.This image does that as well as any I have seen.

There are also a few other images like the one here to the right. This is a really nice painting of Snoopy in his pilot form. This character was a favorite. I never really nailed down why. It could be the Quixotic effort to take out the Red Baron, or it cold be the pilot part of the character. Either way, I like this a lot.

Now, in the main hall as you enter past the ticket podium, there is a floor to ceiling piece that you see here below. It looks light here. The deal is that this piece is made of ceramic tiles, over 3,000 of them. The artist that put this together (not Schultz), used strips that were night-time strips to make the "lines".
When you are up close, you can read each strip. didn't read a lot of them as that's not the point. It's a really neat bit of work. In the men's restroom (and I suspect the women's room too I assume), there were some of the same comic strip tiles in a trim strip around the walls. I was quite surprised that they didn't have any of those for sale. I would have bought a bunch of those.

There is more in the place including a replica of the office where Schultz did his work. After this, we walked across the road to see the Redwod Empire Ice Area, or more commonly known as "Snoopy's Home Ice". It's a full size ice rink where annually I believe, there is a Senior Citizen hockey tournament. I wonder if the NHL has inducted Charles Schultz into their Hall of Fame. I did a cursory search but didn't find anything obvious. Seems like a slam dunk...

Then, across the way is the 'real' store where they sell all sorts of things "Peanuts". There is also a large hockey supply section. Upstairs there, is more history of Peanuts and some of the pictures of the Sr. Citizen hockey tournament teams. I liked this neon sign for Snoopy's Ice Cream, which I never saw in a store...

All in all, it is what I was hoping it would be. It was a stroll through fond memories, fun strips, fine artwork, and what is clearly a work of love for an artist that has touched many lives. Not the least of which was mine. A tip of the hat to Charles Schultz and to this museum.

p.s. - It's also a "Research Center". I failed to ask what they research there...