In the 1960s, baby Peanut the character Linus was faced with an unexpected antagonist: his grandmother who “hates blankets”. Committed to making him give up his addiction, the Van Pelt children’s grandmother showed that she was willing to go to extreme lengths to get her grandson to give up his security blanket, in a series of memorable drawings from the strip’s second decade.
Linus is a fan favorite Peanut A mainstay of the gang, and much of his enduring popularity is the mix of his deadpan intelligence, which often made him seem one of the more mature ones. Peanut characters and their desperate dependence on their security blanket.
First mentioned in the 1960s, Linus’ “blanket-hating” grandmother, as she was called in the strip, appeared in several memorable arcs throughout the decade. — but eventually, Linus’ blanket stood tall and remained a constant fixture of the comics for decades.
10
“I’m preparing bait!”
First published: March 22, 1960
Almost immediately after its introduction to Peanut tradition, Linus’s grandmother’s distaste for his security blanket became her character’s defining trait, beginning with this strip. Here, Charlie Brown finds Linus spreading blankets on the floor of his house, which the boy Van Pelt explains are “baits“ that he is planning to distract his grandmother from her true target.
Like everything great Peanut in the plot, Linus’s “blanket-hating” grandmother began as the premise for a panel; Later, creator Charles Schulz identified that there was more to this fun idea and began to elaborate on the joke more and more over the next few years, until he felt that it had come to an end. This was perhaps Schulz’s greatest virtue as a writer, and it is aptly displayed by this secondary, off-panel character.
9
“She believes in meddling in other people’s business”
First published: January 10, 1963
Several years after introducing the concept, Charles Schulz returned to the joke about Grandma who “hates the blanket” for a long-running series of cartoons in early 1963. It was here that the character officially received this nickname, which would follow her for the remainder. of his appearances; the name is introduced by Lucy as she explains to Charlie Brown that her grandmother “believes that children should be taught selflessness” and “she believes in discipline“, and worst of all,”She believes in moral fiber.”
“She believes in meddling in other people’s business“, Linus interrupts, stressed about how his insistence on clinging to the blanket will be challenged. during this visit. Ultimately, over the next few days, this would lead to another hilarious outburst from the character – and a surprising climax to the arc.
8
“I’m going to look really silly sucking my thumb and holding a dollar… And I don’t feel very safe either!”
First published: January 14, 1963
In this cartoon, the true immaterial value of Linus’ security blanket is highlighted, as his rivalry with his grandmother escalates to the point where she takes the blanket away; She gives him a dollar instead, but what Linus needs is emotional security, not financial security, something his interaction with Charlie Brown makes very clear.
Of course, adult characters never appeared in Peanut comics – with the exception of Snoopy’s parents – and that included the grandmother who “hates blankets.” That said, the presence of adults was felt to varying degrees in different Peanut strips; at times, the Gang’s world seemed entirely devoid of adult supervision, while in other cases, like when Peanut portrayed his characters at school, that adult presence intruded directly into his world. This “blanket-hating” Grandma storyline represents a particularly notable intrusion into the strip’s status quo, as was the case whenever Linus’s blanket was in danger.
7
“I suggested that perhaps her drinking thirty-two cups of coffee was no different than my need for a security blanket.”
First published: January 17, 1963
“She didn’t like the comparison“, Linus said to Charlie Brown, after explaining that “all“his family is angry with him because he equated his grandmother’s excessive coffee consumption with his own”need for a security blanket.” This is a notable example of how Charles Schulz balanced Linus’s more advanced behavior and his more childlike qualities. Drawing a connection between your blanket and your grandmother’s caffeine consumption is an astute, adult observation—although you lacked the wherewithal to recognize that this was neither the time nor the place to point this out.
Interestingly, this extended Peanut arc concluded in the next strip with Linus apologizing to his grandmother – who made as close an appearance in the panel as any adult character in comic book history, extending Linus’s blanket to him from a dark room, tacitly acknowledging that her observation was right in the process.
6
“That’s always been the problem in our family… We have a lot of heredity”
First published: July 19, 1965
In this Peanut strip, Lucy expresses her own distaste for Linus’ blanket, invoking her grandmother who “hates blankets” to contextualize her opinion of her brother. “I agree with her“, Lucy says, as she walks away, “I think I should follow her.”
In the final panel, Linus notes that this has “has always been the problem with [their] family…we have a lot of heredity.” Although he’s lamenting that Lucy is a lot like their grandmother here, it’s important to note – in the context of the previous arc, where Linus criticized his grandmother for drinking too much coffee – that there’s actually a tragic irony to this joke. In some ways, perhaps, Linus’s grandmother is trying to subvert her grandson’s penchant for dependency, something she recognizes in herself.
5
“You invited the grandmother who hates blankets!”
First published: July 20, 1965
Based on the previous day’s cartoon, in this Peanut strip, Lucy actually calls her grandmother and begs her to visit, which prompts her to come that very afternoon – what Linus cries about is “a bottle scheme,” while Lucy laughs maniacally through clenched teeth.
Each Peanut comics were designed, at least to some extent, to stand on their own, but one of the great things about Charles Schulz’s humor was the way he developed jokes over successive days. This cartoon was the beginning of an extended and humorous sequence in which Lucy calling Grandma and the visit that followed were actually just the plot incidents, which showed Linus inadvertently putting his blanket in danger more than his grandmother. really did.
4
“If it doesn’t get lost in the mail”
First published: July 21, 1965
With Grandma on the way, Linus frantically springs into action in this panel, packing his blanket in an envelope and taking it to a mailbox; as Linus explains to Charlie Brown, he is “sending it to [himself] in a self-addressed envelope”, then it will be returned to him tomorrow. This was actually a callback to a previous instance in Peanutin which Linus successfully used this maneuver to avoid his grandmother’s anti-blanket wrath – only this time it wasn’t so easy.
True to Charlie Brown’s prophetic words, Linus’s blanket ended up lost in the mail – spawning a week of soul-searching, literal searching, and even a letter to the Postmaster General as Linus sought to recover his precious security blanket. Ultimately, Charles Schulz paid off with an all-time great interaction between Linus and Snoopy.
First published: July 29, 1965
Just when it seemed like all hope was lost and Linus would never be reunited with his blanket again, Peanut creator Charles Schulz revealed that he had actually been sent to Snoopy’s doghouse by mistake. Hilariously, after his initial joy at having his blanket back, Linus’ wave of emotions turned emotionally into indignation, as he asked “Do you mean to tell me that my blanket was delivered to your house by mistake and you weren’t going to tell me?“
Upon demanding the blanket back, Snoopy casually throws it at Linus’ head. Surprisingly, this joke was the reward for a prolonged build-up, all of it instigated by the premise of Grandma’s “general hatred” – showing how far Schulz, as a humorist, could take a joke, and that he often knew exactly how and when to conclude his jokes. continuous jokes.
2
“I said I’ll give up my blanket if you stop smoking”
First published: August 28, 1967
In what maybe Peanut‘ The funniest story about grandma who “hates blankets”, Linus initially thinks he “put it on grandma this time“, as he thinks he tricked her by agreeing to give up her blanket if she stops smoking – until Lucy enters the frame and screams “and she will do it too”, making Linus’ hair stand on end.
What makes this especially funny as a stand-alone comic is the way Linus’s moment of triumph is completely altered in the space of just four panels; what’s more, it’s the start of a series of cartoons that ran through early September and featured Linus at perhaps his lowest point, while his grandmother proved to have an iron resolve.
1
“That rascally old gray-haired fox!”
First published: September 1, 1967
In this hilarious Peanut panel, Linus regrets the big mistake he made by agreeing to hand over his blanket if his grandmother would stop smokingcontinuing the ongoing storyline that dominated the strip for over a week. “You underestimated her, didn’t you?” Charlie Brown asks his friend. “I sure did,” Linus replies, with an expression of pure discouragement on his face.
Although the plot was finally resolved and Linus’ status quo with his blanket was restored, the funniest result of this appearance by the “blanket-hating” grandmother was the way it proved how much Linus really needed his blanket, while his grandmother was able to give up. cigarettes easily. This deliciously distorted perspective was classic Peanutwhich is what makes this recurring character such a memorable part of Linus’ story and the story in general.