“A big breakthrough for me was when my strip began to appear in foreign newspapers…” —Charles M. Schulz

Eventually, Peanuts was circulated in 75 countries and translated into more than 40 languages, including Braille. Charles Schulz was amused each time he learned of the different titles given to his comic strip in other countries: Snoopy y Carlitos in Spain, Snobben, the name for Snoopy, in Sweden, and Radiserne in Denmark, which means radishes there.

He understood the potential problems of translating American idioms, but that did not worry him. “As a matter of fact,” he quipped, “I’m sure there are people in the United States who don’t understand me.” When The Moscow News, an English-language weekly, published Peanuts reprints without permission in 1973, Schulz frankly responded, “If that’s the only way I can get published in Russia, it’s all right with me. I guess it’s better to be stolen than not to be worth stealing.”

Soon, Peanuts foreign language books came along, which were mainly adaptations of English publications with reprinted comic strips. The earliest translated book in the Museum collection is a Danish edition of I Need All the Friends I Can Get, from 1964. As Peanuts licensing spread to new regions of the world, a flurry of additional language translations followed, including several Russian volumes in 2015, printed with permission this time! Though usually a reluctant traveler, Schulz visited many countries throughout his life. He usually brought ideas for Peanuts back with him.