November 26 & 30, 1953: Two with Violet

November 26, 1953

 November 30, 1953

Violet was such a sweet little girl at first, wasn't she?  That seems long ago now, but it's been less than three years since then.

In the first strip here we have another case of Charlie Brown being thrown out of Violet's house.  Until now, usually Violet forgets what made her angry before C.B. is evicted or long gone, but not in this case.  In the second strip she takes naked advantage of Charlie Brown's lack of backbone, and doesn't even have the venom to make an evil smile about it.  It's just a business translation for her.  She wants what Charlie Brown has, so it becomes hers.  Wow.

It's difficult to feel sorry for C.B. in that one.  It's not like she threatened him or anything!

Charlie Brown's hat in the first strip is rather stylish. 

December 3, 1952: WISHY-WASHY

This is the first time the term "wishy-washy" has been used in Peanuts, and the first time it is used to describe Charlie Brown.

As a kid, I wondered what it was about the term that made it so bad to be that. I'd say it has less of a negative connotation now, which may be why the later decades of the strip stopped using it.

July 20, 1952: The wishy-washy of days gone by

Charles Schulz reminds us, in nine panels, about an age of childhood receding into history with astonishing rapidity. This strip is approaching 60 years old....