Schulz Museum displays ’Peanuts’ cartoonist’s rare adult characters

Seven daily strips of “Hagemeyer,” an unsold comic from the 1950s by “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz, will be displayed publicly for the first time later this month at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.

And while the long-running “Peanuts” strip never depicted adults, the “Hagemeyer” series shows only adults, begging the question: Did Schulz intend these characters as the “Peanuts” gang all grown up?

Of the seven “Hagemeyer” comics, only four were ever published, and those only in an exhibit catalog in Japan and in a 2015 book on Schulz’s life and work, titled “Only What’s Necessary.”

A Washington Post story, written by Michael Cavna and published online Monday, suggests the characters in “Hagemeyer” may be seen as adult versions of Charlie Brown and others in the beloved cast of “Peanuts.”

One character, an office manager named Miss Hamhock, has a personality and temper much like Lucy Van Pelt, Cavna observed. The title character may have gotten his name from Schulz’s friend Elmer Roy Hagemeyer, whom he met during World War II, the Post reported.

But the experts at the Schulz Museum aren’t convinced.

“It does not seem to me that Sparky would have thought of growing up the ‘Peanuts’ gang and turning them into Hagemeyers,” said Schulz’s widow, Jean, using the cartoonist’s nickname. “The characters are a switch from his cartoonish kids.”

While it’s fun to imagine that these adult characters are grown-up versions of the famous “Peanuts” gang, the museum staff doesn’t think that was the cartoonist’s intent.

“It’s easy to make that comparison today, but I think it’s a big a leap. These adult characters remind us of ‘Peanuts’ only because we can see Charles Schulz’s hand in the work, but I don’t think there’s anything to it,” said Benjamin Clark, curator at the museum.

“We only have the seven strips. Would these adult characters have developed differently? Schulz was able develop deeper characters, given time,” Clark added.

Dinah Houghtaling, collections manager at the Schulz Museum, joined the others in dismissing the theory that “Hagemeyer” is an adult version of “Peanuts.”

“‘Peanuts’ was only a few years old then (when Schulz drew ‘Hagemeyer’),” she reasoned. “Schulz wouldn’t have been able to imagine what the characters would be like as adults because he was still developing them.”

The “Hagemeyer” strips aren’t dated, but a Schulz Museum archivist managed to narrow down their age by noting that the title “Peanuts” was in quotes on the preprinted templates from the United Features Syndicate, which were used only from December 1953 through spring 1956, Houghtaling explained.

“Hagemeyer” was one of several new projects Schulz created from the mid-’50s to the mid-’60s.

“Early on, Charles Schulz’s career shows that he was persistent,” said Gina Huntsinger, director of the Schulz Museum.

The “Hagemeyer” strips have value of their own simply because they offer a new perspective on the cartoonist’s work, she added.

“We’re not used to seeing adult characters from him,” Huntsinger said. “He had these wonderful child characters.”

The “Hagemeyer” strips will be only part of the new “Adults by Schulz” exhibit, opening June 17, with coronavirus safety protocols in place, and running through Jan. 16, 2022.

Two other Schulz projects have had more exposure than “Hagemeyer.” While neither won fame, both were collected in book form.

One was “Young Pillars,” a single-panel feature about teenagers and Christianity.

“It was only published in a periodical by the Church of God,” Clark said. “That was the only place it was ever intended to go.”

Schulz also co-created, with Jim Sasseville, a sports-themed gag panel titled “It’s Only a Game,” which ran in 30 newspapers for roughly a year, from late 1957 to 1959.

“Peanuts” made its debut in 1950. Eight years later, Schulz settled in Sonoma County, where he wrote and drew every panel until his death in 2000. At that time, the strip was printed in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries in 21 languages, and “Peanuts” continues to run as reprints in 2,000 papers today.

The seven “Hagemeyer” strips were bought by the Schulz Museum at auctions, four of the strips in 2005 and three more in May 2020. The price paid for the strips remains undisclosed.

There is no question that the strips were written and drawn by Schulz, his widow said.

“I think there is no question that they were drawn by Sparky. We have people who worked with him at that time who knew of them,” she said.

The Schulz Museum staff is equally convinced the strips are the master’s work.

“All but one were signed by Schulz, and they all were preprinted daily comic strip panel templates formatted for ‘Peanuts.’ He crossed out the title ‘Peanuts’ and wrote in ‘Hagemeyer,’” Clark explained.

“He sent them to the United Features Syndicate, but they obviously were rejected, because they were never published,” he added. “I imagine they went into a reject file or even a trash bin. It’s all speculation at this point.”

The twisted path of the “lost” strips to reach the museum years later remains a mystery, Houghtaling said.

“Maybe some syndicate employee took them home,” she speculated.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.