Snoopy Time

I was so excited for my stamps that contained snoopy related themes to arrive. They were taking their time though as they were coming all the way form Singapore. I even kept the fancy Singapore stamps that the sender attached, so they might pop up in future posts. The stamps all display the word 'Nippon' which is a formal way of saying 'Japan'.

This picture is known to be the very first illustration of Snoopy when Charles Schulz introduced him into the world. Snoopy is a beagle and first lived on a farm called 'Daisy Hill' along with his 2 sisters and 5 brothers.

It is thought that Snoopy is: scared of icicles on his kennel, invented the 'Happy Dance', loves root beer; is not keen on coconut candy and can understand basic French. The stamp displays Snoopy as a mail dog looking at what seams to be a love card or letter, perhaps signifying Valentines Day.

Snoopy began life in October 1950 and was a prominent character in the infamous comic strip 'Peanuts'. The comic celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2025, but the comic ceased production in early 2000's. This stamp shows Snoopy as a mail man, likely delivering good news to one of his comic neighbours.

This picture is not a stamp, but I just wanted to include it and name some of the characters. The most well known character is Charlie Brown who is standing behind Snoopy in the Yellow and black top. He eventually became Snoopy's owner. The girl with the pink dress is Sally Brown - Charlie's sister. Behind Sally is Peppermint Patty aka Patricia Reichardt. She is a close friend of Charlie and was seen as an icon for female athletes. Behind Patty is Marcie. She was introduced in 1971 and is known for her brain power and wisdom. Other characters include Pigpen who is always filthy but proud, the Van Pelt siblings were called Lucy, Linus and Rerun and after some pressure from the fans, Shultz introduced the first black character called Franklin, not long after Martin Luther King was assassinated.

This little unknown species of bird is called Woodstock and he is specifically Snoopy's little friend. It is thought that Woodstock was orphaned from an early age but found guidance in Snoopy who taught him how to fly. Woodstock and Snoopy had a very unique way of conversation as they talked their own language. This stamp shows Woodstock riding a bike probably on his way to see Snoopy.

In 1997, Woodstock and Snoopy received an honorary rank of Life Master by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), however I don't understand the link between Snoopy and an online Bridge gamers website. Can anyone help? This stamp shows Snoopy doing his self taught happy dance with some envelopes falling around him.

I am quite jealous of Snoopy as he has already been up into space on board the space shuttle Columbia in 1990. In 2019 NASA announced that Snoopy would be launched once again into space onboard the uncrewed Artemis 1 in 2022. He flew 1.4 million miles in a little over 25 days. Snoopy's main job was to be a gravity indicator, this means he would float freely around the capsule.

Silver Snoopy Award

NASA, as an agency, has a high regard for snoopy as they even have an ceremonial award named after him called the 'Silver Snoopy'. It is given to those who display unique abilities, those who strive for success and those who maintain health and safety within the organisation.

Snoopy is not only well regarded within NASA. He is also the mascot of the U.S Air Force Technical Control unit. Snoopy related art was also painted on Gulf War aircrafts during the 1990-1991 conflict. The stamp on the left shows a bunch of Woodstock's on a hot air balloon and the stamp of the right indicates Woodstock and one of his own floating around with umbrellas as Snoopy walk alongside them with an envelope in his hand.

Having achieved so much recognition and respect over the years, Snoopy was even given his own star along the 'Hollywood walk of fame'. The first stamp upper left shows Snoopy typing away on an old fashioned typewriter, second above centre shows Snoopy and Woodstock posting letters and the third upper right circular stamp shows Snoopy with an envelope in his paw.

This last stamp symbolises the iconic relationship between Snoopy and Charlie Brown. It looks like Snoopy is reading a letter to Charlie as they sit by a red mailbox. Japan, which is the country these stamps were issued for, love nothing more than cartoon and furry characters. This craze is called 'kawaii' which means cute and is a popular cultural movement, originating in Japan, which has influenced the design of these stamps.

I know there are many more stamps, Snoopy and Peanuts related, issued for many different countries including the U.K, and I just love them. I will be keeping an eye out for more.

Thank you for participating, I would love to hear from you especially if you have similar stamps and a tale to tell.

Stamping out,

Lisa