Updating Peanuts

Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" is timeless. It meant one thing to me as a child when The Great Pumpkin failed to appear, when the tree ate Charlie's kite, and when Lucy pulled the ball just before Charlie kicked it. As an adult, it means another. Life is bittersweet, indeed.

Still, "timeless" sometimes means "dated". Yesterday's "Peanuts" had Linus receiving a check for $0.35 from the tooth fairy with the warning, "Do not fold, bend, spindle, or mutilate. Know your endorser." Linus quipped, "Expanded business means improved methods." Charlie responded, "I can't deny it."

The humor in this probably goes right over the head of 21st century readers. In the 60s and 70s, government checks were not on magnetic ink printed paper, but on key-punched computer cards. If the recipient folded, bent, or mutilated them, the primitive computer of those days would come to a grinding halt. If a clever recipient "spindled" them adding additional holes, a $0.35 check could be misread as $35,000. Linus' point was that The Tooth Fairy had gone big business. I wonder how many readers picked up on that dated reference to "Do not fold, bend, spindle, or mutilate."

By the way, my very first desk in Corporate America back in 1972 came equipped with a spindle. The 4" long stainless needle on a wooden block was perfect for securing those "While You Were Out" message pad leafs. Many an inexperienced secretary developed stigmata on her palms by carelessly spindling message sheets. Naturally, the spindle created a hole in the message sheet usually obliterating a digit or two of the phone number that you were supposed to call back which was a great excuse for not returning that call that you really didn't want to take in the first place. Caller ID and voice mail are so much more effective in avoiding unwanted calls.

If Charles M. Schulz was still with us today, I wonder if he wouldn't update yesterday's "Peanuts". Linus would show Charlie the check and say, "Original Document. Do not write, stamp, or sign below this line. Reserved for Financial Institution Use. Expanded business means improved methods".

Now the 21st century reader gets it.