Take a Hike, Snoopy “Sparky quipped, ‘I did all the camping I would ever want to do in the army,’ ” mused Jean Schulz about her husband, Charles M. Schulz. Although Charles M. Schulz was no camping fanatic, his most beloved characters, Snoopy, Woodstock and a band of birds spent years exploring the wilderness as Beagle Scouts in the Peanuts comic strip. Visitors can enjoy the adventures of a Beagle Scout in the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s newest exhibition; Take a Hike, Snoopy, running February 17 through June 13, 2010. On display will be the evolution of Schulz’s portrayal of the Beagle Scout over 25 years, with 14 original Peanuts strips and Beagle Scout–themed objects from 1970s through 2000. “Snoopy’s alter ego as the Beagle Scout provided a vehicle for Schulz’s characters, including many previously unknown bird characters, to embark on humorous adventures in the wilderness. It may also have been at some deeper level a way in which Schulz could reflect on his army days when as a young staff sergeant, he, too, was a troop leader, slept in a tent, and ate army grub,” said Jane O’Cain, Curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Charles Schulz developed Snoopy as a Beagle Scout in the mid-1970s. Although Snoopy debuted as a “tenderpaw” on May 13, 1974, it only took him two days to declare himself “the World Famous Beagle Scout!” About the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center
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