A letter typed onto a yellow sheet of paper sits in a glass case at the Minnesota History Center. It's dated Jan. 15, 1976, and is addressed to Charlie Brown — not the comic strip character, but the man.
"I have often regretted that my using your name may have brought you more trouble than any of us had dreamed," "Peanuts" comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz wrote to the real Charlie Brown after People Magazine published an article about him. Brown was a teacher at Art Instruction Schools Inc., and someone Schulz met in Minneapolis.
This is one of the more than 150 objects on view in the exhibition, "The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz" at the Minnesota History Center, which opened Saturday. All the wall panels came from the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., and the objects in the show are from MNHS' collection and local "Peanuts" and Snoopy super fan Peg Olson.
Schulz, nicknamed "Sparky," was born in Minneapolis in 1922. The show celebrates 50 years of the comic strip and its creator, from his homegrown days in the Twin Cities, to his life in California, where he moved in 1958.
"There is so much influence of stereotypical Minnesota values and just that Midwestern kind of self-deprecating humor," MNHS Museum Manager Annie Johnson said. "I think Schulz is a proponent of that, but also of things like, Snoopy and Woodstock skating on a frozen birdbath — you don't get a lot of frozen bird baths in California. The seasons change, and snow shows up in the strips."
The show will feel nostalgic for longtime "Peanuts" and Snoopy fans and like an introduction to those less familiar with the antics of Charlie Brown, his friends and beloved dog.
Fans will notice how Schulz's drawing style changed — characters once had very round heads — and how he was influenced by the comic "Krazy Kat." MNHS created a Twin Cities map spotlighting significant locations in Schulz's life — the home where he grew up, the family barber shop and his schools.
While the comic strip's characters are all children and it covers topics like friendship, sports, schoolyard crushes and more, the comedy appeals to kids and adults alike. He referred to "Peanuts" as "a chronicle of defeat," because losers are funnier than winners, and he often heightened daily events to fantastically humorous levels.
