Rob Lammle
10 Peanuts Characters You’ve Probably Forgotten
by Rob Lammle - June 12, 2011 - 10:56 PM

Everyone knows Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus. But do you recall these less-celebrated members of the Peanuts gang?

1. 555 95472

One of the most bizarre characters in the Peanuts universe was “555 95472,” or “5” for short. Introduced in September 1963, 5 explained that his father was so upset about people being seen as “just a number,” he renamed the entire family as a series of digits. The family’s last name is taken from their ZIP Code, though when spoken, 5 insists there’s an accent on the 4. The ZIP Code, by the way, is the real one for Sebastopol, California, where Charles Schulz lived at the time.

5’s sisters 3 and 4 made a few appearances in the strip before disappearing, but 5 was occasionally a background character until 1981. You’ve probably seen 3, 4, and 5 already and didn’t even know it—all three appear in the famous dance sequence in A Charlie Brown Christmas. 3 and 4 are the twin girls in purple dresses, while 5 is the spiky-haired kid in orange.

2. Charlotte Braun

Charlotte Braun was written as a female version of Charlie Brown. In fact, she looked just like him, except she had curly hair. She, too, was ostracized by her peers, but it was because she was loud and obnoxious, a fact she constantly pointed out during her appearances in the comic strip.

Shortly after her introduction in 1954, Schulz received a letter from Elizabeth Swain, a young fan in Pittsburgh, who told him to get rid of Braun because Swain found the character annoying and unfunny. Schulz wrote Swain a letter (which is now in the Library of Congress) saying that he would soon “discard” Braun as requested. He added a touch of dark humor by saying that Swain would “have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?” Next to his signature, he included a sketch of Charlotte Braun with an ax stuck in her head. Braun showed up in the comic one more time, but then never returned.

3. Snoopy’s Fiancée (Genevieve)

After disappearing one night, Snoopy returns in the morning to say he has met the “beagle of his dreams” and he’s getting married. But on the day of the nuptials, Snoopy’s fiancée runs off with Snoopy’s brother, Spike, who was set to be the Best Beagle at the ceremony. Soon after, a heartbroken Snoopy receives a letter from Spike saying that his ex-fiancée ran off with a coyote.

Snoopy’s fiancée was never seen in the comic strip. But when the storyline became the basis for the 1985 TV special, Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown, she’s both seen and given a name—Genevieve. A few other changes were made as well – instead of a beagle she’s a poodle, and she doesn’t run off with Spike, but with a golden retriever.

4. Tapioca Pudding

When Tapioca Pudding was introduced in September 1986, she said that, with her blond hair, smile, and catchy name, her father believes they could make a million dollars by licensing her image for products like t-shirts, lunch boxes, and greeting cards. It’s all she ever talked about.

Tapioca was a jab at the many cartoon characters in the 1980s created purely to be licensed for use on products. Her name, as well as other hints throughout the storyline, suggest that the real target of Schulz’s satire was probably Strawberry Shortcake, a character originally featured on a line of greeting cards. When the cards became big sellers, 32 similar food-themed cartoon friends were created and appeared on everything from toys to clothing to a Saturday morning cartoon.

5. Shut Up and Leave Me Alone

When the Peanuts gang attended summer camp in 1971, Charlie Brown introduced himself to his tentmate, a boy sitting on a cot, with his back to the reader. “Shut up and leave me alone,” he responded. Throughout this series of summer camp strips, Charlie Brown repeatedly tried to get his tentmate to come to lunch, to join him at an astronomy lesson, or to meet Peppermint Patty. But the kid never moved, and all he ever says is, “Shut up and leave me alone.”

Despite the cold shoulder, Charlie Brown writes to his tentmate after camp is over. He’s surprised to get a letter back, but the single sentence reply is entirely predictable.

6. The Goose Eggs

After Charlie Brown took a bite out of his old nemesis, the Kite-Eating Tree, he received a stern letter from the Environmental Protection Agency. Convinced he’s headed to jail, Charlie Brown went on the lam. He met a group of Little Leaguers—Austin, Ruby, Leland and Milo—who asked him to coach their team, The Goose Eggs.

The kids are young and small—the catcher’s mask completely covers Leland’s head, Milo can’t even lift the bat to swing it, and Austin asks how he’s supposed to get down from the pitcher’s mound—so they’re underdogs to be sure. Of course their first game is against Charlie Brown’s friends, who refuse to play because they’re afraid they’ll step on the little kids. It’s here that Charlie Brown learns he can go back home, as the evidence against him was destroyed when the Kite-Eating Tree blew over in a storm.

7. Truffles

While hunting for truffles in the countryside, Snoopy and Linus found the next best thing—a young girl named Truffles, who was visiting her grandfather’s farm. Linus instantly likes her, but he can’t find his way back to the farm to see her again. They talk on the phone a few times, but Truffles soon goes back home and they lose touch.

Then, in 1977, Linus went back to the farm where he met Truffles, and the two picked up where they left off. Sally was jealous and the girls start arguing. Unwilling to be part of the squabble, Linus climbed to the roof of the barn, but was too scared to come down. So Sally hired Woodstock and Snoopy—who can fly by spinning his ears like helicopter blades—to rescue her “Sweet Babboo.”

Sadly, Truffles was never seen again.

8. Emily

In February 1995, Charlie Brown met a girl named Emily who asked him to be her partner in a dance class. After they shared an “enchanted afternoon,” Charlie Brown was smitten.

But at the next class, Emily was absent. When Charlie Brown asked the instructor where Emily is, he’s told there’s no one by that name in the class. It turns out Charlie Brown was dancing alone and talking to himself the whole time; Emily was merely a figment of his lonely imagination.

Emily and Charlie Brown danced again in 1996 and 1999. There was never any mention of her being imaginary, and in one instance, Snoopy even joins them. But with no other characters meeting her – and Snoopy having a pretty wild imagination himself – many fans believe that Emily never actually existed.

9. Peggy Jean

Charlie Brown and his girlfriend, Peggy Jean, met on the boat docks at summer camp in 1990. Peggy Jean gave Charlie Brown his first kiss, said she loved him, and wrote letters to him after camp was over. Sadly, he never received those letters. That’s because upon meeting her, he was so nervous that he introduced himself as “Brownie Charles,” a mistake he was too embarrassed to correct. So when the mailman tried to deliver Peggy Jean’s letters, Sally turned them away, saying no one by that name lived at the address.

After appearing periodically for many years, the last Peggy Jean comic was on July 11, 1999, when the two met on the docks at summer camp once again. But this time, Peggy Jean told Charlie Brown she can’t stay because she had to go meet her boyfriend. Devastated, Charlie Brown used a pay phone to call the one friend he could always count on—Snoopy.

10. Joe Shlabotnik

It’s fitting that Charlie Brown’s favorite baseball player would be a guy whose career was anything but spectacular. After batting .004 in one season in the majors, Joe Shlabotnik was sent back down to the minor leagues, where his most notable highlight was throwing out a runner who’d fallen down between first and second base.

When Shlabotnik became the manager for the Waffletown Syrups, Charlie Brown finally got to meet his hero. While in the stands, Charlie Brown snagged a foul ball, and he wanted Shlabotnik to sign it. Unfortunately, Shlabotnik had been fired in the middle of the game.

By the way, don’t bother looking for pictures of Shlabotnik. Like all adults, he’s never actually seen in Peanuts.
* * * * *
What other little-known members of the Peanuts gang deserve a mention?

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Comments (64)

  1. Shermy was one of the three original characters, he was gone after a few years though.

    Faron was the name of Frieda’s cat, Heather was the name of the little red haired girl.

    Anyone else remember the fire in Snoopy’s doghouse? His Van Gough was destroyed, but was replaced with an Andrew Wyeth.

    posted by Wayne Stevens on 6-12-2011 at 11:19 pm

  2. “Like all adults, he’s never actually seen in Peanuts.”

    Actually, there is one exception… an early story arc involved Lucy competing in a golf tournament, and there were adults pictured from the waist down, IIRC. Not to nitpick, but… :)

    posted by Daniel G. on 6-12-2011 at 11:52 pm

  3. Does Rerun count as forgotten?

    posted by Anon on 6-13-2011 at 12:38 am

  4. I’m so relieved you put Joe Shlabotnik, the man who paid Charlie Brown $1 to autograph a baseball.

    posted by Chris on 6-13-2011 at 12:43 am

  5. What about in one of the movies (I forget which) where Snoopy visits a hospital to visit a sick girl? No idea if she was unique to that movie or was shown elsewhere.

    AFAIK, there wasn’t anything about why she was in the hospital in the first place.

    posted by smjjames on 6-13-2011 at 2:26 am

  6. Although I’ve mostly seen the movies and some Peanuts cartoons rather than the newspaper comic.

    posted by smjjames on 6-13-2011 at 2:29 am

  7. @Daniel G: In the movie I mentioned above, I think an adult was shown a few times when Snoopy got caught and kicked out of the hospital.

    posted by smjjames on 6-13-2011 at 2:33 am

  8. @ smjjames

    Lila is the name of the girl in the hospital of “Snoopy Come Home”; she was his original owner.

    I don’t remember an adult being shown in that, but I could be wrong.

    posted by Wayne Stevens on 6-13-2011 at 7:41 am

  9. What about Thibbault?

    posted by Don on 6-13-2011 at 8:08 am

  10. How about “clean” Pig Pen? Although he was a frequent character with his cloud of dust, a clean Pig Pen appeared in the comics once or twice. Of course, by the third panel, he was a complete mess again.

    posted by rigofamily on 6-13-2011 at 8:39 am

  11. Somehow we have to work Miss Othmar into this conversation.

    posted by Wayne on 6-13-2011 at 8:49 am

  12. Don’t forget about The Little Red-headed Girl!

    posted by carly on 6-13-2011 at 10:12 am

  13. I must be the only person in the world that despises the whole “Peanuts” thing. Can anyone enlighten me as to the success of this comic series?

    posted by Border Bonnie on 6-13-2011 at 10:34 am

  14. Not everyone likes every pop culture phenomenon (I speak from experience… ask me about my hate for Seinfeld!). However, if you’re interested in figuring out the success of the strip, old old old Peanuts strips have a kind of magic they rarely showed in the later years. As someone who was only really exposed to the Christmas special and the boring newspaper strips as a kid, when I found an old compendium of strips in a resale shop I was really enchanted by what Peanuts “used” to be before it became a phenomenon.

    posted by Brookins on 6-13-2011 at 11:05 am

  15. Interesting tidbit I read on Cracked.com: In Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown, the voice of Sally is provided by Stacy Ferguson from The Black Eyed Peas.

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004914/

    posted by Mike on 6-13-2011 at 11:54 am

  16. I saw a website once (do not remember what it was called) that was a compilation of Peanuts newspaper comic strips which would leave off the final “conclusion” or “punch line” panel of each strip. It was actually quite facinating, as what always seemed to be an innocuous, child/family oriented strip suddanly revealed horrible overtones of hopelessness, depression, and viciousness that you would not normally realize were there….

    posted by Andrew on 6-13-2011 at 12:10 pm

  17. I despise the whole Peanuts thing so much that I read a story about it then comment on it, too. Makes sense.

    posted by 97621km on 6-13-2011 at 12:27 pm

  18. That’s actually quite a few more than ten characters. Normally I wouldn’t bother, but since this is Mental Floss magazine, I thought you’d want to know.

    posted by ophu on 6-13-2011 at 1:40 pm

  19. I had forgotten all about that storyline where Charlie Brown bites the tree and runs away to coach the hopeless baseball team, thanks for the reminder.

    posted by dan1101 on 6-13-2011 at 1:46 pm

  20. What about Patty? She’s the girl with the yellow dress and ribbon in her brown hair who’s a friend of Violet’s.

    posted by Steve from San Diego on 6-13-2011 at 1:57 pm

  21. In #5, how did Charlie Brown know where to write the letters if all the kid said was “shut up and leave me alone?”

    posted by Lehmen on 6-13-2011 at 5:12 pm

  22. @Wayne Stevens: Oh I see, I didn’t know the story behind the girl.

    posted by smjjames on 6-13-2011 at 10:52 pm

  23. Rob, was there ever a CAT in any of the strips? I don’t remember any.

    posted by dad on 6-13-2011 at 11:35 pm

  24. dad:
    Yes, there was a cat in the strip and in the animated specials. Most people know him as only “The Cat Next Door”, but his name was actually “World War II”, as seen in this strip from 10/20/76:
    http://bit.ly/jA2Wyw
    He could probably be considered #11 on this list, but there just isn’t that much to his story.

    There was also Faron, Frieda’s cat, introduced in 1961. Frieda thought Snoopy was living a little too high on the hog, so she threatened to get a cat that would be more beloved. Instead, Faron had be held constantly and laid around like a sack of potatoes. Snoopy was still everyone’s favorite animal after all.

    posted by Rob Lammle on 6-14-2011 at 1:48 am

  25. what about Franklin

    posted by damgenius on 6-14-2011 at 2:57 am

  26. Snoppy have 9 brothers and sisters, Sometimes he visit they.

    posted by Jhon on 6-14-2011 at 5:19 am

  27. How about Larry? In the early 90s Sally was teaching Sunday school and he was a little kid with glasses who seemed to be getting the Bible mixed up with The Great Gatsby.

    posted by Mary Pitt on 6-14-2011 at 6:56 am

  28. Oh yea, when the Peanuts went to Europe in one movie, there were lots of background kids who might count as little known.

    posted by smjjames on 6-14-2011 at 10:39 am

  29. The strip referenced by “Andrew on 6-13-2011 at 12:10 pm” is 3Nuts:

    http://3eanuts.com/

    and truly it is surprisingly depressing.

    posted by Ted on 6-14-2011 at 4:53 pm

  30. “3″ and “4″ might not have made the cut, but “5″ showed up on a regular basis through the early seventies, usually on the baseball team.

    posted by Robert Nowall on 6-14-2011 at 5:42 pm

  31. I remember the character 5; I don’t remember any of the others.

    posted by Will S. on 6-16-2011 at 3:39 pm

  32. Who else remembers Eudora?

    posted by Stefan on 6-17-2011 at 12:35 am

  33. Wow. I forgot how dark that strip could be sometimes. Parts of that article are really depressing.

    posted by dkvideo0 on 6-18-2011 at 8:37 am

  34. Carly, Wayne said “Heather was the name of the little red haired girl.”

    posted by Sara in Al on 6-20-2011 at 8:17 am

  35. How about José Peterson?

    posted by Barbara on 6-20-2011 at 2:57 pm

  36. @ smjjames

    I think Lila was in the hospital recovering from appendicitis surgery. But I might have gotten her confused with Madeline…

    posted by Carole on 6-20-2011 at 3:55 pm

  37. OK so I was wrong. The reason Lila was in the hospitqal is not disclosed.

    posted by Carole on 6-20-2011 at 4:18 pm

  38. OK so I was wrong. The reason Lila was in the hospital is not disclosed.

    posted by Carole on 6-20-2011 at 4:24 pm

  39. Molly Volley was a real tennis player who lived on our street in Santa Rosa CA. Her arch rival was Crybaby Boobie. Molly first appeared in May 1977 and retired in April 1982.

    posted by Larry W. Williams on 7-1-2011 at 1:38 pm

  40. Violet Gray, a friend of Patty, was one of the “mean girls” who teased Charlie Brown.

    posted by Robert T. Cale on 7-1-2011 at 2:20 pm

  41. Snoopy had alter egos. The iconic Joe Cool was one. Another was the WW I flying ace engaged, appropriately enough, in dogfights against the Red Baron, with doghouse as Sopwith Camel. And don’t forget the wildly popular little book, “Happiness Is A Warm Puppy.”

    posted by Robert T. Cale on 7-1-2011 at 2:35 pm

  42. Cool story….thanks!

    posted by Smitty on 7-1-2011 at 2:38 pm

  43. I’m not the only one that remembered Jose Peterson! Hurray!

    posted by dana pilchik on 7-1-2011 at 4:28 pm

  44. who was the little kid that was always talking about the great gatsby in a sort of WWJD kind of way? i always thought he was an awesomely random character, and he was in fact how i learned who the great gatsby was when i was a kid.

    posted by Amy on 7-1-2011 at 5:15 pm

  45. Perhaps not so obscure, is Rerun, Lucy and Linus’ younger brother. Though most of my friends would fail that question in a trivia contest.

    posted by Daniel B on 7-1-2011 at 5:20 pm

  46. Throughout my career (even to this day), whenever I am writing a form letter or PowerPoint template and I don’t know the name of the person… I always use “Joe Shlabotnik.” It’s become my personal “John Doe” substitute.

    posted by Chris D. on 7-1-2011 at 6:29 pm

  47. Loved the story. Thank you. Brought back great memories!

    posted by Donnae on 7-2-2011 at 12:19 pm

  48. Great article. Read it with my wife. Made us laugh. That Charlie brown!

    posted by Adam Haver on 7-2-2011 at 7:53 pm

  49. @Stefan:

    I am named after Eudora! Glad someone mentioned her :)

    posted by Eudora on 7-5-2011 at 5:42 pm

  50. “Emily” was–and is–a real dance instructor. Schulz took ballroom dancing from her for many years. The character is a tribute.

    posted by Mike on 7-6-2011 at 5:01 pm

  51. Violet, Franklin and Rerun are under appreciated characters. What about the little girl Snoopy visited in the hospital (she was his owner before Charlie Brown)

    posted by Mario on 7-18-2011 at 6:46 pm

  52. I loved Jose Peterson. Great ball player, and his mom made swedish meatballs and tortillas. Now THAT is a truly American cartoon character!

    posted by Dave on 7-24-2011 at 12:43 am

  53. In the Schulz museum in CA, there is one Sun. PEANUTS strip that shows an adult face.

    posted by Matt on 8-9-2011 at 8:27 am

  54. Fascinating article. I remembered many of the ten listed, although I only learned of Charlotte Braun’s existence when I started buying the Complete Peanuts collection, and I must say I never know about Emily or Tapioca Pudding.

    Hard to count Genevieve, since the cartoons aren’t “canon” (which is why although the cartoons showed the Little Red Haired Girl and even gave her the name Heather, it’s not considered official by many Peanuts-philes since she never appeared or was shown in the strip).

    Second the notion, too, on Miss Othmar, Linus’ teacher (she got married and became Mrs. Hagemayer – named after Schulz’ army buddy Elmer Hagemeyer). Did you know that Charlie Brown’s teacher’s name was “Miss Tenure”?

    And although I was never really a fan of the Beagle Scouts group (Woodstock’s fellow birds), they had great names – Conrad, Olivier, and Harriet, IIRC.

    Both Franklin and Lila first appeared in 1968; Franklin stuck around as one of Peppermint Patty’s classmates. Lila, as noted above, appeared in the movie “Snoopy Come Home” with elaborated on the story line from 1968.

    Speaking of PP’s friends, how about Roy, who Charlie Brown met at summer camp in 1965? It was Roy who first introduced Peppermint Patty to “Chuck” a year later.

    There are lots of wonderful little one-shot characters in the strip, and this was a very nice article.

    posted by Jerry Modene on 8-9-2011 at 9:40 am

  55. Lila was seen in the context indicated – as a hospital patient – only one time in the strip, on August 24, 1968.

    posted by Dave Mackey on 8-9-2011 at 11:47 am

  56. I remember Shlabotnik.

    posted by Stan Litzenberger on 8-9-2011 at 12:30 pm

  57. Big Jose Peterson fan here!

    posted by Bob from VA on 8-9-2011 at 4:20 pm

  58. The Little Red-Haired Girl was actually shown in silhouette in the later years.

    And Rerun was far from forgotten in the strip; while he was little seen for decades, in the final few years of the strip, he was a strong regular and the focus of the strip’s creativity. (He was also the titular “I” in the TV special “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown”.)

    posted by Nat Gertler on 8-9-2011 at 7:45 pm

  59. Freida is sort of a reverse example; most people remember her pretty well and assume she was always around, but she was only around from about the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies.

    posted by Tice on 8-10-2011 at 3:12 pm

  60. Anyone remember Thompson, the mysterious character Snoopy had to go and help? One of the old collections of strips is even titled “Thompson Is in Trouble”.

    posted by ND on 8-16-2011 at 11:24 am

  61. I love this post, Rob!

    posted by Alex on 9-19-2011 at 12:57 am

  62. That website of Peanuts cartoons with the last panel missing is at 3eanuts.com. It’s fascinating how much philosophy Schulz worked into the strip without tipping anyone off.

    posted by David Z on 9-24-2011 at 1:16 am

  63. How about Harold Angel, a character who showed up around Christmas time in later years? Sally met him at the school play. Her line was “Hark,” and then Harold Angel would sing.

    Another adult who played a few pivotal roles: Mr. Hennesy, who owned the local sporting goods store. He sponsored the baseball team one year, so they could play in a real league, but a problem arose when the league wouldn’t allow girls or dogs to play.

    I remember Thibault, who played on Peppermint Patty’s baseball team.

    Snoopy used to refer to Frieda’s cat as “boneless” for the way it drooped over her arms. And I loved how the stupid cat who lives next door would take huge swaths out of Snoopy’s dog house whenever he insulted the feline.

    “5″ used to wear a T-shirt with the number 5 on it.

    posted by John on 11-7-2011 at 8:07 pm

  64. You forgot Fred Glover. When Charlie talked aboiut hockey and his hero’s he always mentioned Fred Glover who actually was a real person. Glover played hockey, won many awards, coached hockey and was a general manager.

    posted by Uncle Ed on 12-5-2011 at 9:10 pm

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