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By David Hartwig
A July 24 stamp issue from Great Britain’s Royal Mail celebrates the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, the internationally loved comic strip written and illustrated by Charles Schulz.
The set of eight stamps are presented in two horizontal se-tenant (side-by-side) strips of four. All eight stamps are valued at the first-class rate (currently £1.70).
Peanuts launched in seven newspapers Oct. 2, 1950, and for the next 50 years it ran seven days a week in as many as 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. The last new strip ran Feb. 13, 2000, the day after Schulz’s death. Reprints still run in some 2,000 newspapers.
The stamps feature scenes from the comic strip and show many of the strip’s common characters. Charlie Brown protects his dog Snoopy from the rain in one of the stamps, and the pair sits with a birthday cake (with the bird Woodstock in a teapot) in another.
Snoopy and Woodstock appear together on two stamps with distinct British elements. In one, Snoopy lays on top of a red postbox instead of his normal red doghouse. In another, Snoopy and Woodstock wear the bearskin cap of British foot guards.
Another stamp shows Charlie Brown and Franklin playing soccer – a sport more popular in Britain than baseball, which Charlie Brown and his team often play only to lose.
Other characters appearing in the issue include the siblings Lucy and Linus, who sit with a sandcastle on one of the stamps. Another stamp features Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and Schroeder, the object of Lucy’s affection. The latter stamp includes a score from Pomp and Circumstance by Edward Elgar.
Finally, a stamp shows multiple characters sitting under the kite-eating tree, a character unto itself in the comic strip. To Charlie Brown’s right are close friends Marcie and Peppermint Patty; and to his left are Snoopy, Sally (Charlie Brown’s sister), Lucy, Linus and Woodstock.
The stamps were designed by Interabang and printed by Cartor Security Printers by lithography in sheets of 48 (two different sheets, one for each se-tenant strip), also sold in panes of 24 at most postal outlets.
Each stamp in the set of eight measures 41 millimeters by 30mm and is perforated gauge 14.5 by 14.
Royal Mail also offers the set of eight stamps on a sheet with a background design similar to Charlie Brown’s shirt.
Two fan sheets were printed in a run of 5,000 copies each. One has a background showing the Peanuts gang and contains four of the stamps showing the group of children under a tree, and the other has a background of Snoopy with his typewriter on top of his doghouse, with four of the stamps showing Snoopy and Woodstock on top of the postbox.
A collectors sheet included with the issue contains the set of eight stamps with attached labels featuring black-and-white panels from the comic strip.
An official first-day cover comes franked with the set of eight stamps. One available postmark is from Tallents House and shows Charlie Brown reading a letter, and an alternate postmark from Woodstock, just northwest of Oxford, England, shows Snoopy and Woodstock in a nest.
Other products offered in conjunction with the stamps include a set of eight postcards reproducing the designs of the stamps, as well as a presentation pack with the set of eight stamps along with text providing a history of Schulz and his creation and development of Peanuts.
The stamps and related products can be ordered from Royal Mail’s website. Ordering information also is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland.
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