Peppermint Patty - History of The Character

History of The Character

Schulz has said in several interviews that he named Peppermint Patty after a dish of peppermint candies he had in his office, and simply thought the name too good to pass up. (He once said he originally intended to develop Peppermint Patty as a character distinct from the Peanuts strip; however, he never had time to pursue a separate project and ended up introducing the character into the strip.)

Schulz said that he had developed the Peppermint Patty persona in response to the burgeoning Women's Liberation Movement that was sparked in the latter half of the 1960s, and that he desired to create a character that defied gender stereotypes and embraced social norms that had yet to become fashionable. Peppermint Patty was the first female character outfitted with shorts and sandals, rather than dresses; and had a personality with much more easygoing tomboyish behaviour without forcing mean aggressiveness than the girls who played on Charlie Brown's baseball team, a more truly careless boyishness not competitive and measuring up to with the boys, thus her closeness with Charlie not as the other girls condescending but as pal to go by nicknames, Chuck; and the first character to be the product of a single-parent household.

Peppermint Patty was first voiced by Gail DeFaria in the CBS specials, then by various other child performers both male (such as Christopher DeFaria and Stuart Brotman) and female (including Donna Forman (1974), Linda Ercoli (1974), Victoria Vargas (1983), Gini Holtzman (1984–1985).

"Peppermint Patty" was also the title of a song by pianist Vince Guaraldi which appeared in Peanuts specials in the 1970s.