Charlie Brown's Beginnings

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"Can't you make him look a little more like Steve Canyon or Superman?" asked the co-worker who had given Charles Schwartz permission to use his name in the comic strip he was developing. Yes, Charlie Brown was a real person working at the Art Instruction School in 1950. But Brown had no bald head or wore the zig zag patterned shirts. Nor did the fellow have the sullen attitude the character had. He was outgoing and well liked. But he did have the same insecurities and was known to go to bed for three or four days. Charlie Brown was not the only Art Instruction School employee to see their name in Peanuts. Linus Mauer and Frieda Rich had their names incorporated into the comic strip. And the mysterious Little Red-Haired Girl was actually Donna Mae Johnson from the accounting department (the two had dated for a short time.) How fun huh?