I found this in some old papers yesterday. My dad had it saved for some reason. I though it was kinda interesting.
We lost a national treasure when Charles Schultz died. I used to read his column every day but must have missed that one. Knowing he might have been a car guy only adds to his appeal in my book. Frank
Peanuts is definitely an American national treasure. Hey, it should have been obvious he was talking about a FORD. hahaha
Anyone who likes Peanuts and Schultz should check out the book designed by Chip Kidd collecting his early work together. It's beautiful. And, yes, the Peanuts did advertise for Ford in the early 60s. Back when I was a cartoonist, I entered my work in the Columbia School of Journalism cartoonist contest, which was judged by Charles Schultz. After a few months p***ed I received a letter stating (I'm paraphrasing here, but I saved the letter and it's around here somewhere): "Due to the lack of quality entries this year, Charles Schultz has decided not to award any prizes in this year's contest." Boy, was I offended! @$#%&*!! Charles Schultz!!
My art school teacher was a long time friend of Charles Schultz. He showed us several original pieces of art he had been given by him. I can't imagine what those are worth today!
He's on the short list of people who inspired me to go into cartooning for a living. The closest I ever got to meeting Mr. Schultz was through my sister the year I started shcool at Cal Arts. His daughter, Jill, married one of my instructors and my sister made her wedding dress. ...O.K. , ... so that's the closest my sister ever came to meeting Charles Schultz. Life isn't far.
The top 3 cartoonists of all time in no particular order: Johnny Hart(B.C.;the Wizard of Id) Berkley Breathed(Bloom County;Opus) Charles Schultz(Peanuts) The top 3 hot rod cartoonists: Pete Millar Pete Millar Pete Millar As Connor MacLeod said:" There can be only ONE".
I met Charles Schultz once... I was about 5 I think. He talked about having a scar on his forehead from being run over by a Model T when he was a kid. The car was high enough off the ground that he lay down and it drove (almost) right over him. Luckily it was before a HAMBer got ahold of that old Ford and slammed it or he would have been dead.
you know, the two peanuts strips that always made me pause were the 2 D-day strips he had done. snoopy as a 101st airborne paratrooper and again drawn like the photo of what i belive is a navy beach battaliion demo man in the surf. not sure if we'd call him a car guy, as i've read some biographies, but probably alot like most people of his generation, he had a certain fascination and appreciation for the cars that were around in his formative years. my grandpa insisted on getting a newish mercury just before he died because he had a blue 49 with straight pipes that i think he bought new. he was a farmer, almost blind since the late 50s or early 60s and therefore didn't have time to be a car guy (he COULD work wodners on tractors, and mechanically restored several by touch and feel). just appreciation for old fashioned american mechanical ingenuity. wonder how many of us younger guys will look back on our first cars with the same kind of pride?
The first time I ever heard of "Peanuts" was in Omaha in 1961. My dad was working on a pipeline and I was his welder's helper. We were looking at cars one day in Omaha (my car, a 29 Model A had burnt to the ground just before school was out) and I spotted a 32 five window that had the peanuts characters painted on the cowl right in front of the door. Thought at the time how neat they were. Soon after I returned home I saw the cartoon strip in the Abilene Tx newspaper.
The Jalopy Journal
