September 25, 1951: More Schroeder at the Keys

Look at the piano score in the first panel. Intense. Schulz had been quoted as saying he took time to make the scores accurate and loved how they looked on the page. Keep in mind, at this point Schroeder has only said a couple of words, yet he's already titling his compositions.

Another subtle innovation in these strips is a recurring gag template for Peanuts, the blatantly bizarre thing that is somehow real that the other characters can react to. Snoopy is a particular focus for these kinds of shenanigans later (I remember the "whirlidog" sequence, coincidentally also featuring Schroeder), but Lucy gets into some of it too. It works best if the bizarre character possesses an elemental, "force of nature" style of personality for it's a good way to illustrate their strength of will, by presenting it as triumphing over reality itself.

September 24, 1951: The Ceremonial Changing of the Archetypes

AH, it's Schroeder's first time in front of a toy piano, cementing his long-term role in the strip. We even get a good blush out of Charlie Brown while we're at it.

For purpose of winning trivia quizzes later, note: it is Charlie Brown who introduces Schroeder to the piano.

September 22, 1951: Why is everybody always picking on me?

Stuff like this can't be good for a little round-headed kid's self-esteem. His long-term personality is settling into place. By the way, that's a particularly Calvin-like drawing of him in the second panel.

September 21, 1951: Camping In

How big is that tent? In the first panel Patty is obviously taller than it; in the last, it's taller than her.

September 20, 1951: War of the Sexes, Tricycle Front

Wow. First the girl takes his bicycle, then she basically mugs him for his tricycle! It's almost like they're married! zing!

But do you feel it? That tremor in the ground? That chill in the air? Yes, Patty here is a rehearsal for one of Charles Schulz's great creations: the magnificent, malevolent LUCY.

September 19, 1951: Kitty

Schroeder's first word is "Kitty."

NOT "BEETHOVEN."

September 17, 1951: More forthright than Bill O'Reilly

The key here is Charlie Brown's awareness of his own mental state, and the humor derives from the fact that he knows it and yet refuses to do anything about it.

September 15, 1951: Because Charlie Brown stands in the way?

It's funny, but also seems to suggest that either Charlie Brown is incredibly accident prone, or the other characters are resigned to him standing between them and the post.

September 14, 1951: The wrath of Violet

This is the first strip (or one of them, anyway, I don't remember any others) in which one of the female characters shows unequivocal anger towards Charlie Brown without cause. Later strips would focus on the feelings of the wounded CB in these cases, but here it's just used as a punchline. So even though the subject is similar to modern Peanuts, the strip doesn't yet have the depth of introspection for which people remember it.

If I keep linking every strip like this, we'll be going through it roughly in real time!

September 13, 1951: War of the Sexes, Bicycle Front

There's a Thurber-like quality to this one. Obviously, Patty is a girl who's thinking two moves ahead.