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Peanuts began on October 2, 1950, with Charlie Brown, Shermy and Patty in its first strip. The decades that followed brought in much of the familiar cast, but the available dates are not all equally precise: some characters have a documented first-strip date, while others are dated only to a year. Woodstock is a special case because the birds appeared before Schulz gave one the name Woodstock.
Scope: who counts as a major Peanuts character?
The Charles M. Schulz Museum says Peanuts has more than 70 distinct characters, divided between main and supporting characters. This guide covers the named main cast and a few historically prominent early figures for whom the museum material establishes a debut date or year; it is not a complete list of every character. Where a source gives only a year, the entry below does not imply an exact strip date.
1950s: the original cast and the early gang
October 2, 1950: Charlie Brown, Shermy and Patty
Charlie Brown, Shermy and Patty appeared in the first Peanuts strip, published October 2, 1950. Patty here is the original character, not Patricia “Peppermint Patty” Reichardt, who arrived years later. Charlie Brown’s familiar zigzag shirt came in a separate design milestone on December 21, 1950; it was not his debut. (Charles M. Schulz Museum biography; museum timeline)
1951: Violet Gray and Schroeder
The museum timeline dates Violet Gray and Schroeder to 1951, but the cited material does not specify their first strip dates. (Charles M. Schulz Museum timeline)
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1952: Lucy and Linus van Pelt
Lucy and Linus joined the strip in 1952, according to the museum timeline. The museum’s Peanuts overview describes Linus as debuting as a toddler; his later role as Charlie Brown’s close confidant should not be mistaken for a separate debut. (Charles M. Schulz Museum timeline; Celebrating Peanuts)
1954: Pig-Pen
The museum dates Pig-Pen’s first appearance to 1954. Its character material displays an August 18, 1954 strip, but that example should not be treated as the exact debut date. The museum notes that Pig-Pen appeared comparatively rarely across the 17,897 strips discussed on its Celebrating Peanuts page; that figure is the page’s stated strip total, not a current count of every Peanuts work. (Pig-Pen; Celebrating Peanuts)
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1959: Sally Brown
Sally joined the gang as a toddler in 1959. The museum material establishes the year, not a precise first-strip date. (Charles M. Schulz Museum, Celebrating Peanuts)
1960s: Peppermint Patty and Franklin
August 22, 1966: Peppermint Patty
Peppermint Patty was introduced on August 22, 1966. Schulz later explained the origin of her name: “A dish of candy sitting in our living room inspired her name.” (Charles M. Schulz Museum timeline)
July 31, 1968: Franklin
Franklin’s first Peanuts appearance was July 31, 1968. The strip followed a beach storyline that began July 29, in which Charlie Brown and Sally met children from another neighborhood. (Charles M. Schulz Museum, Celebrating Peanuts)
1970: Woodstock is named, not necessarily first seen
The museum dates the naming of Woodstock to June 22, 1970. That date is not necessarily the bird’s first visual appearance: Schulz had drawn unnamed birds in the strip earlier. He later recalled, “I needed a name for him, and with the Woodstock festival being so prominent in the news, I said, ‘Why not?’” The useful distinction is between an earlier bird appearance and the later naming of the character Woodstock. (Charles M. Schulz Museum timeline; Peanuts and the 1960s)
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What about Marcie, Rerun and other supporting characters?
The museum identifies Marcie among the main cast and Rerun among supporting characters, but the official material cited here does not establish their exact debut dates. The same limit applies to other characters unless a dated first strip is verified. A cast list establishes that a character belongs to Peanuts; it does not, by itself, establish when that character debuted. For broader character coverage, the museum FAQ recommends Andrew Farago’s The Complete Peanuts Family Album. (Charles M. Schulz Museum FAQ; museum character list)
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