Patty (Peanuts)



Patty Swanson (not to be confused with Peppermint Patty, a different and later character from the same strip) is a female character from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. Her closest friend is Violet.

Although a major character in the year of the strip's debut and for a few years thereafter, Patty's personality was never fully developed and she lacked characteristics which strongly differentiated her from other characters. By the mid-1960s, Patty had been relegated to the background and, although she made occasional appearances throughout most of the remainder of the strip's run, she had virtually disappeared from Peanuts by the 1970s.

History
Prototype version of Charlie Brown, Patty, and Snoopy all appear in the pre-Peanuts strip Li'l Folks. She was named after Schulz's cousin, Patricia Swanson.

In the early days of the Peanuts comic strip, Patty was one of its major characters. Although she was not named until October 26, 1950, Patty appeared in the very first strip on October 2, 1950, along with Charlie Brown and Shermy. However, since she and Shermy lacked the discerning characteristics of such characters as Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder, they became less prominent as years went by.

As the only female in the strip's earliest days, Patty was often portrayed as a sort of "mother-hen" character who looks out for the younger characters; however, she would also set the tone for the strong female characters that would later appear in the Peanuts universe. In her second appearance, Patty was one of the earliest Peanutscharacters.

would later appear in the Peanuts universe. In her second appearance, Patty is seen walking down the sidewalk reciting, "Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice." She then punches Charlie Brown in the face and, without missing a beat, continues, "That's what little girls are made of!" Patty was apparently the oldest child in the early days of Peanuts, as shown by one strip which revealed that she attends school but Charlie Brown does not. Eventually, she, along with Violet, became best known for their social snobbery and combined cruelty to Charlie Brown. It has once even been noted that she often kicks down his sandcastles whenever he makes one (though this has only been shown once or twice in the strip). Patty is also known for asking "Pig-Pen" why he is constantly so dirty.

Patty's name was first mentioned on October 26, 1950, 24 days after her first appearance.

Patty's birthday is December 4. She plays outfield on Charlie Brown's baseball team; though on an early occasion she was seen as catcher before Schroeder was introduced. Interestingly, it was Patty who first introduced Charlie Brown to Schroeder, claiming he lived next-door to her.

Physical Apperance
Patty is fair-haired. Over the years, she has variously been shown with blonde, red and light brown hair. Although she is a brown-haired brunette in most of the TV specials and movies, she is a blonde in The Peanuts Movie and a black-haired brunette in It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown. She customarily wears a checkered dress with a matching bow in her hair and (usually black) Mary Jane shoes. Patty's dress and bow are colored orange in the television specials and in the movies A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Come Home, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!). In The Peanuts Movie, her dress and bow are colored light green.

Patty's gradual disappearance
Patty was a prominent character in Peanuts until around 1960, after which she began to appear less and less often. Although Patty (or at least unnamed characters who bear a strong physical resemblance to her) would make cameo appearances throughout the run of Peanuts, she had pretty much disappeared as a featured character by 1976. Schulz claimed he drew Patty in a March 1994 strip in which she asks Snoopy to chase rabbits with her, but some fans have stated that the girl in the strip does not resemble Patty. Some have postulated that Patty's doom was sealed by the appearance of the similarly-named Peppermint Patty in 1966, but others say her character was already in decline by then.

Trivia

 * Patty is one of the many Peanuts characters to appear in the video game Snoopy's Street Fair, in which she owns a balloon cart.
 * Patty (along with Eudora) is one of the few main characters to own a dog besides Charlie Brown with Snoopy. In the strip from January 23, 1989, she enrolls a shaggy-looking dog about Snoopy's size into an Ugly Dog Contest.
 * She is one of the few characters who has an after-mentioned birthday, the others being Charlie Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Sally Brown, Linus van Pelt, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Violet Gray, Rerun van Pelt, and Snoopy.