Charles Schulz wrote the strip for 49 years. Every calendar year, each holiday occurs.

therefore we know 49 years have passed for the characters

in the earliest strips in 1951-52; Schroeder is too young to speak, Lucy is a toddler, & the others are in school

yet as time passes, these age differences between Lucy & Schroeder vs Charlie Brown, Shermy, Violet, & Patty (the original four characters) are minimized

this leads to only one possible conclusion, which also explains Charlie Brown's ennui... they're elves, or some other extremely long-lived race, with a childhood more than 50 years long.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

what do your elf eyes see, charlie brown

exactly

in other news I've been reading v1 & v2 of The Complete Peanuts & while I thought I had read all the early stuff before, I had not

other collections leave a lot out, because it's 1952 before Snoopy gets thought bubbles of his own, & for the first year & a half Charlie Brown is a rambunctious prankster

the strip doesn't feel like itself until Lucy shows up. Lucy & Charlie Brown, even when Lucy is like 3, immediately have that Bossy vs Wishy-Washy vibe that totally defines the tone

also, many years before the Peanuts theme was composed...

Hopak by Mussorgsky

is apparently where the Snoopy Dance comes from

...go on

....that music reference is peak schulz