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You’re a good stamp, Charlie Brown

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

The main Christmas issue in the U-S this year commemorates not a sacred event, but a
television special: “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” first broadcast 50 years ago. Jean Schulz,
the widow of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, says it has become a tradition for many
families.

“People say, ‘I watch it every year. It was the beginning of the Christmas season for us.
It meant so much to our family,‘ and the fact that they that they have come out with a whole array
of stamps I think is wonderful.” RUNS :12

The 10 stamps show different scenes from the animated special, featuring most of the
Peanuts characters. Producer Lee Mendelson says when he told the network he could come up
with a Christmas special based on the Peanuts comic strip, he really didn’t have a clue
what it would be. And then when he delivered it....

“They really weren’t very enthused about the show. They thought it was a little slow and
they didn’t know why we used real kids and it had jazz music.”  RUNS :07

But VIEWERS liked it.

“Half the country tuned in to watch it.”  RUNS :02

Although the stamps commemorate the television special, they were issued earlier than
most Christmas stamps, at the family’s request: On the *65th* anniversary of when the
comic strip first appeared in newspapers.

I’m Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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