April 16, 1953: Playing Guns with Girls

The gender norms of Peanuts are worthy of examination. They're rather complex.

For decades, all the female characters wore dresses nearly all the time. Late in the strip's run Lucy's default outfit changed to what looks like a jogging suit.

Considering that the strip is still in the early 50s this isn't surprising. The girls, however, don't appear to be so traditional regarding to their choices of games to play. They play dolls and house (or Mud Pie Chef) sometimes, but they've been just as apt to play Cowboys and Indians, or Space Hero.

This is really progressive if you think about it: even as late as Calvin and Hobbes, Susie, when playing, is nearly always seen at some girl-oriented activity like playing Tea Party or House. (This is probably because it's so entertaining to watch Calvin react to stereotypically feminine things.)

April 12, 1952: Ball One

Poor Charlie Brown would never really get much better than this. This is the first strip that puts both Charlie Brown and Schroeder into their respective baseball positions as pitcher and catcher.

Of special note: Charlie Brown's pitcher's mound is a lot more subtle in this strip than it would be later on.