The Complete Peanuts Family Album. Andrew Farago

      THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM

      opposite and above: Style Guide art – CSCA

      51VIOLET

      VIOLET

      V

      iolet Gray is the second girl to move into Charlie

      Brown’s neighborhood. She and Patty hit it off

      right away, and the two become best friends almost imme-

      diately—much to Charlie Brown’s chagrin, as he is often on

      the receiving end of their criticism.

      Violet comes from an affluent family and can be a

      bit pretentious at times. One of her favorite activities is

      organizing parties with Patty and deciding which kids

      should be excluded from the festivities. All the same,

      she’s happy to join her friends in all their activities,

      whether playing house, making mudpies, or playing

      leftfield on Charlie Brown’s baseball team.

      As with her friend Patty, Violet’s role declined over

      time. As new characters were introduced, she was

      relegated to the background or made to deliver the

      setup for other character’s punchlines. “Some characters

      just don’t seem to have enough personality to carry

      out ideas,” Charles Schulz observed of Violet and his

      other early cast members. “They’re just almost born

      straight men.”

      first aPPearanCe

      02/07/1951

      “

      (

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      52

      THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM

      “It’s a scientific fact that

      at our age girls are

      smarter than boys!”

      —Violet

      53VIOLET

      opposite, top: Violet model sheet – CSCA | opposite, bottom: Spot art from strip

      – Charles M. Schulz |

      above center: Style Guide art – CSCA | above: Spot art from

      Happiness is a Warm Puppy – Charles M. Schulz |

      right: Mudpies Like Mother Used to

      Make, Peanuts Digital Edition – CSCA

      x

      z

      z

      left and opposite: Spot art

      from strips – Charles M. Schulz

      55CHARLOTTE BRAUN

      W

      hat’s in a name? Although Charlotte Braun’s name

      is strikingly similar to Charlie Brown’s, their

      personalities couldn’t be more different. The brash, loud

      Charlotte Braun is everything that the wishy-washy Charlie

      Brown is not, and her abrasive nature failed to endear her

      to the gang—and to readers.

       Peanuts fan Elizabeth Swaim was unimpressed with

      Charlotte Braun, an opinion she shared in a letter to

      Charles Schulz. Schulz wrote a personal response, and that

      letter is now part of the Library of Congress archives.

      Dear Miss Swaim,

      I am taking your suggestion regarding Charlotte

      Braun and will eventually discard her. If she appears

      anymore it will be in strips that were already completed

      before I got your letter or because someone writes in

      saying that they like her. Remember, however, that you

      and your friends will have the death of an innocent

      child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept

      such responsibility? Thanks for writing, and I hope

      that future releases will please you.

      Sincerely,

      Charles M. Schulz

      Charlotte made her final appearance on February 1, 1955,

      just a few months after this exchange.

      CHARLOTTE BRAUN

      first aPPearanCe

      11/30/1954