Snoopy: The Life and Times of an American Pop Icon

Snoopy was born on October 4th, 1950, in the fictional comic strip world of the Peanuts gang created by artist and illustrator Charles Schulz, one of a liter of eight born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm.  A composite of Schulz’s own boyhood dogs Snooky and Spike, Snoopy first arrived in Charlie Brown’s neighborhood two days after the strip premiered on October 2nd.  Originally intended to be called, “Sniffy,” (some sources say “Sparky”), Snoopy was not Charlie Brown’s dog initially as Schulz is said to have been planning to parallel the storyline used in the popular Our Gang comedies where “Pete” was everybody’s dog.  This is illustrated in the February 2nd, 1951 strip where Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn’t following him, he “merely lives in the same direction.”  In fact, many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to the whole neighborhood.   Read More . . .