#I was tempted to wait until we got to 1957 and post this then but I do NOT have the executive function for that level of planning.

[linesonscreens]

Bonus! - A Trip Through The Des Moines Register and Tribune With Peanuts (1957)

So I've been reading a book called “Only What's Necessary: Charles M Schulz and the Art of Peanuts”. It's basically a bunch of stuff from the Charles M Schulz Museum including comics, toys, original art and promotional material that got scanned in with a bit of commentary/explanation added for some of it. It's a fantastic book and I highly recommend it if any of that sounds interesting to you. It's available on Amazon HERE.

Anyways, While reading it I came across this cool promotional comic for the Des Moines Register drawn in 1957 by a man named Bob Davenport. I found it to be a pretty interesting peek into how newspapers were produced in a time before computers and figured that maybe some of you might also appreciate it.

Let's dive in!

Page 1

Charlie Brown: Free at last! We have escaped reality itself and shall no longer be bound to that monochromatic prison!

Some guy: Hi Charlie Brown! Want to tour a 1950's newspaper building?

Charlie Brown: Hell yes I do!

Page 2

I love that they're bragging about the speed of their elevators.

Page 3

I want to explore the photography labyrinth.

Page 4

This stuff here is particularly interesting to me. We take for granted just now much more efficient computers have made the printing process.

Page 5

In case you were wondering what this stuff actually looked like:

*EDIT: To be clear, these are not actually pictures of the Des Moines Register. Just newspaper equipment from around that time.

Page 6

The one thing that bugs me about this comic is that for some reason they decided to have Lucy be the mature one of the two.

Also, I literally just now noticed that that top panel is different from the one in the book for some reason. Some of the departments on page 3 and the first panel of page 5 also seem to be different from their online versions. I guess they did a revision at some point?

Bonus: Please notice this very good Charlie Brown drawing.

Page 7

Morgan Freeman voice: “It was not here to stay”

Though to the DMR's credit it still seems to be alive and kicking.

Page 8

Charlie Brown: Incredible! I'm going to get myself a newspaper job right now so that I too can be a part of this noble profession!

Later:

And that's the whole thing! Apologies for the questionable quality. The only version of this that I've been able to find online was scanned in 2007 by this guy. If you click the link be sure to read the comments because a couple of Bob Davenport's family members apparently responded to the blog post providing additional information.

Here's hoping that someday somebody does a better quality scan because it's a neat little piece of comics history that deserves be be kept around in a readable format.

Hope you all enjoyed it!

#I was tempted to wait until we got to 1957 and post this then but I do NOT have the executive function for that level of planning. #peanuts #charlie brown #lucy #The Des Moines Register #comic strips #comics #peanuts comics #charles schulz