Pop Culture in Peanuts
May 19 through September 20, 2010
at the Charles M. Schulz Museum

Detail from Peanuts, July 28, 1966

April 13, 2010—Santa Rosa, California

From coon skin caps to macramé to 3-D glasses, Charles M. Schulz made reference to pop culture in his Peanuts comic strip for five decades. The Charles M. Schulz Museum’s newest exhibition, Pop Culture in Peanuts, delves into the fads, trends, and contemporary influences on the Peanuts comic strip and how those references changed over the 50 years of the strip. This exhibition, running May 19 through September 20, 2010, is located in the Museum’s downstairs strip gallery and will include over 70 original Peanuts strips.
 
Like any writer, Schulz used all of his experiences, observations, and reflections in creating his comic strip, and the eccentricities of pop culture were often a rich source of material. “Part of Schulz’s genius lay in his ability to adapt the latest pop cultural slang or trend in a way that was relevant and uniquely funny in his comic strip,” said Jane O’Cain, Curator of the exhibition.

About the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center
The Charles M. Schulz Museum opened in August 2002 to fulfill its mission of preserving, displaying, and interpreting the art of Charles M. Schulz. The Museum carries out this mission through changing exhibitions and programming that build an understanding of cartoonists and cartoon art; illustrate the scope of Schulz’s multi-faceted career; communicate the stories, inspirations and influences of Charles Schulz; and celebrate the life of Charles Schulz and the Peanuts characters.

Press Release Images
Note: If you would like any of the images in this release at a higher resolution to print in a publication, contact Gina Huntsinger at gina@schulzmuseum.org.

January 25, 1954 — Long before the popularity of Avatar, the early 1950s saw a short-lived 3-D movie fad.

May 6, 1974 — Streaking became popular on college campuses in the mid-1970s.

July 8, 1980 — Pulling from cinematic pop culture, Peppermint Patty attempts to emulate Bo Derek from the movie 10.