'There are so many themes and expressions and emotions in 'Peanuts' that we can all relate to. 'Peanuts' is decent and it's funny and it's whimsical and it's everlasting, because it's just about being human.'

'And we see our own hopes, dreams, wishes and fears.

'We all continue to see ourselves in the strip, in how we connect to the world and how we relate to other people,' says museum director Karen Johnson. Seven years later, 'Classic 'Peanuts'' still appears in 2,400 newspapers worldwide. 4, strips pulled from the 'Peanuts' archives - which number 18,000 Sundays and dailies - started running in 2,600 subscriber newspapers. He had drawn enough dailies (Mondays-Saturdays) to run through Jan. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 1999 and announced his retirement a few weeks later. 2, 1950, and those closest to Schulz believed he simply couldn't bear to see it all end. A fresh 'Peanuts' had been in the funny pages every day since Oct. 12, 2000, the day before the last original 'Peanuts' appeared in Sunday newspapers. So I'm like Sparky: When the museum is 50 years old, we'll consider it a success.' 'That was pretty amazing and a great vote of confidence for the comic strip,' she says, 'but he had to keep working at it, to keep ahead of the competition. Her husband won his first Reuben Award, the top honor given by the National Cartoonists Society, in 1955, five years into the five-decade run of 'Peanuts.' Shulz's widow, Jeannie, was surprised when the museum's staff proposed celebrating the anniversary. A 1963 documentary with rare footage of him drawing 'Peanuts' characters plays in a continuous loop on a small TV set. Here, too, are old studio wall paneling and draperies, along with some of Schulz's favorite books and knickknacks. Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Pigpen, Peppermint Patty, Woodstock and the smartest beagle ever, Snoopy, came to life on this table, born out of the mind of a shy, funny, bespectacled man known since age 2 as 'Sparky.' 'Peanuts' fans who never set foot in his longtime studio down the road at One Snoopy Place can linger here and imagine. Schulz's old drawing table stands at a permanent tilt in front of his favorite leather swivel chair. Schulz Museum and Research Center, which recently kicked off its yearlong fifth-anniversary celebration. The famous piece of hardwood now resides in a re-creation of his working studio at the Charles M. Sparky said he would end 'Peanuts' when he finally wore a hole in the drawing board he used for 50 years.

Schulz peanuts museum