海角大神

鈥淐ome on, Charlie Brown. I鈥檒l hold the ball and you kick it.鈥澛�

Readers might be surprised that 鈥淧eanuts鈥� creator Charles Schulz was among those hoping that 鈥� maybe, just maybe 鈥�聽Lucy van Pelt would finally let Charlie Brown kick the football.聽

Although the 鈥淧eanuts鈥� cast are thought to be different facets of Mr. Schulz鈥檚 personality, he said that they had a life of their own.聽聽

鈥淗e often spoke about the characters as leading independent lives,鈥� says Chip Kidd, a New York-based graphic designer who published two books on Mr. Schulz鈥檚 work. 鈥淚n one interview he said, 鈥業 wish Lucy would let Charlie Brown kick the football.鈥� I don鈥檛 think he was trying to be sarcastic. In his mind, the characters did take over.鈥澛犅�

Just as Charlie Brown had to learn to pick himself up from failure, so too did Mr. Schulz as a shy, small kid growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Schulz credits his high school art teacher, Minnette Paro, for spotting his talent early on and encouraging him to follow his own voice.聽聽聽

A black-and-white photo of Ms. Paro from 1940 sits in a glass case at the Minnesota History Center, one of more than 150 letters, photos, and memorabilia on view as part of a yearlong exhibit, 鈥淭he Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz鈥� in St. Paul.聽

While fans of the iconic comic strip will appreciate the more familiar elements on display 鈥� a Snoopy-inspired Pez dispenser, a 1980s-era lunchbox 鈥� it is the exhibit鈥檚 ode to the Midwest that offers a unique window into Mr. Schulz鈥檚 inspiration.聽

Though he later moved to California, Mr. Schulz spent his formative years in Minnesota, which provided a backdrop for what would become well-known storylines: autumn leaves piling up during football games, Woodstock ice-skating on a frozen birdbath, or the cast of characters racing across a hockey rink.聽聽聽

Those Minnesota moments set the stage for an artist whose enduring creations contributed to American pop culture and offered poignant life lessons for generations: how to make lemonade out of lemons, and that perseverance wins out.聽聽

鈥淭he world that Schulz built had kids talking like adults about big things: life, death, and God,鈥� says Mark Fearing, an author and illustrator in Portland, Oregon, whose family grew up alongside Mr. Schulz in the St. Paul area. 鈥淏ut there were also things that felt like part of my landscape: homes, a dog, kids going to school on a school bus. 鈥楶eanuts鈥� was radically different. ... It was a revolution.鈥澛犅�

Midwestern influence

Mr. Schulz was born in Minneapolis in 1922 and began publishing cartoons regularly in 1947 with his weekly series of one-panel jokes, 鈥淟i鈥檒 Folks,鈥� in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. It was here that Mr. Schulz created the name Charlie Brown as well as a dog that resembled Snoopy. After 鈥淟i鈥檒 Folks鈥� was dropped in 1950, Mr. Schulz developed a four-panel comic strip for syndication, and 鈥淧eanuts鈥� was born.聽聽

Over the next 50 years, Mr. Schulz would produce 17,897 鈥淧eanuts鈥� strips. He proudly maintained full editorial control over the cartoon, sitting down every morning with a yellow legal pad and coming up with the lettering, storyline, imagery, and colors 鈥� something rare at the time that, some say, alluded to his upbringing.聽聽

鈥淭here is the stereotype of the Midwest work ethic, and it was all over his strip,鈥� says Annie Johnson, museum manager at the Minnesota Historical Society, an educational nonprofit that oversees more than two dozen historic sites and museums, including the Minnesota History Center. 鈥淚 think people from here will also recognize repeating [Midwestern] themes of self-deprecating humor and modesty.鈥澛�

Mr. Schulz took a piece of Minnesota with him when he moved his family to California in 1958, building a new ice hockey rink in a neighborhood of Santa Rosa, which opened to the public in 1969. In 2002, Santa Rosa opened the Charles M. Schulz Museum to celebrate the artist, which provided the wall panels for the Minnesota exhibit.聽

The panels describe all of the major 鈥淧eanuts鈥� characters, from fan favorite Snoopy to boundary-breaking characters like Franklin 鈥� the strip鈥檚 first person of color, who appeared in 1968 鈥� and Peppermint Patty, who in the 1960s wore shorts instead of dresses and chose sports over school any day.

鈥淎 piece of ourselves in each character鈥澛�

The lessons that 鈥淧eanuts鈥� characters taught readers through humor and metaphor 鈥� often involving unrequited love, sports, and friendship 鈥� were what made them so beloved. It鈥檚 also given the comic an enduring popularity even as print newspapers fade.聽

鈥淐omic strips were a unifying, recognizable expression found in newspapers that blanketed the whole country. They had a huge impact,鈥� says Mr. Fearing. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing comparable now.鈥澛犅�

Still, the St. Paul exhibit hopes to inspire a new generation of 鈥淧eanuts鈥� fans, some of whom may have only seen the still-popular 鈥淎 Charlie Brown Christmas鈥� animated TV special. Since the exhibit opened in July, summer camps-ful of schoolchildren have visited, as have many grandparents with their grandchildren.聽

鈥淜ids today might not get it as much as we do. They didn鈥檛 grow up with these memories,鈥� says Annette Gilles, who visited the exhibit with her husband, Don, and 9-year-old grandson in early August. 鈥淏ut [鈥楶eanuts鈥橾 taught us things. We felt like we had a piece of ourselves in each character.鈥澛�

For Minnesotans, those feelings are especially strong. Curators worked with their own collection of 鈥淧eanuts鈥� memorabilia to give the exhibit a nostalgic, local touch: There are the life-size statues from the city art project Peanuts on Parade, as well as objects from Camp Snoopy, a 7-acre amusement park that was installed in the nearby Mall of America for over a decade.聽

What local visitors have especially appreciated, say museum spokespersons, is knowing more about the man behind the magic. A blown-up wall map pinpoints more than a dozen of Mr. Schulz鈥檚 old haunts 鈥� his local barber shop, former schools, and family home. Ms. Johnson says longtime Twin Cities residents 鈥渃an spend half an hour in front of it.鈥�

But the Midwestern elements of the exhibit are intended to welcome 鈥� not exclude 鈥� visitors into Mr. Schulz鈥檚 universe and to add new richness to an already abundant following. At the end of July, the Peanuts Collectors Club held its 17th annual Beaglefest during the exhibit鈥檚 opening weekend in order to discover some previously unseen memorabilia.

Even if comic strips may be moving toward a thing of the past, Mr. Schulz鈥檚 cast of flawed but lovable characters continues to resonate with people in Minnesota and beyond.

鈥溾�楶eanuts鈥� was so real and touched everyday life,鈥� says visitor Carol Faust, of the nearby suburb New Brighton. 鈥淭here was a sense of friendly competition but without animosity. Even if Lucy was mean sometimes to Charlie Brown, all the characters accepted each other as they were. There was no hate. It鈥檚 refreshing.鈥�