Charles Schulz hid this sweet dedication to his wife in Peanuts

Jean Schulz had a nickname for her husband that eventually found its way into a Peanuts comic strip.

While the Peanuts gang sure are little, they can teach us a lot about life and love. The good news is that while Charlie Brown is still just a kid, he is imbued with the wisdom of Charles Schulz, who lived a long and storied life.

This also means that bits and pieces of Charles Schulz's real life are hidden throughout the Peanuts stories. Notably, the character of Charlie Brown is semi-autobiographical, while Snoopy is based on a childhood dog that Schulz once had. 

However, a very sweet detail of Schulz's life was hidden in plain sight in the comic strip, this one dedicated to his wife, Jean. She spoke to CBS News in 2020 for the 70th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip. There, she shared a fun little tidbit about Sally Brown and our favorite blanket lover, Linus Van Pelt.

If you're a real Peanuts fan, you might recall that Sally, smitten with Linus, has a very endearing nickname for him that Linus himself finds less than romantic. Jean revealed that Linus's nickname, "Sweet Babboo," is actually a nickname for Charles Schulz that Jean gave him during their marriage.

Jean also revealed that she had no idea that the nickname would make an appearance in the comic. She said, "I called him, 'Sweet Babboo,' and instead of saying, 'Oh, that's clever, I think I'll use that,' it just showed up six weeks later in the comic strip!'"

She added that she was aware of the connotation of the nickname in the Peanuts universe, and added, "She [Sally] torments Linus with it. And he said, 'I'm not your sweet babboo.' So it's very funny."


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4 Comments

RobertK 10 months ago
The "hidden" stories inside the main storyline are always a nice touch!
KawiVulc 10 months ago
Figured it was Sweet Babboo from the headline. Nice story. Sally's pursuit of Linus always made for a fun story line.
Coldnorth KawiVulc 10 months ago
Lucy and Schroeder also
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