Today is the 65th anniversary of the “Peanuts” comic strip debut and December is the 50th anniversary of one of the most popular holiday TV classics of all time- “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” To celebrate National Stamp Collecting Month the U.S. Postal Service is unveiling "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Forever stamps nationwide.

“’A Charlie Brown Christmas" continues to resonate with fans because everyone can relate to Charlie Brown and his quest to find the true meaning of Christmas,” said Jean Schulz, wife of Charles Schultz. “It will be a great joy to see these iconic images when I open my mailbox this holiday season.”

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” Executive Producer Lee Mendelson says, “No fictional character has so captured the interest of the American public like Charlie Brown. Everybody identifies with him, as we all have our ups and downs. What we like about Charlie Brown is that he keeps coming back and keeps trying no matter what. The ‘wah wah’ of Charlie Brown’s school teacher has become part of our daily speech...”

The stamp images set to be released later today include: Charlie Brown holding the sapling that eventually becomes his Christmas tree; Charlie Brown and Pigpen with a snowman; Snoopy and children ice skating; the cast of the program gathered around the Christmas tree; Linus kneeling by the sparsely decorated Christmas tree; Charlie Brown checking his mailbox for a Christmas card; Charlie Brown and Linus leaning on a snowy brick wall; Charlie Brown and Linus standing by the Christmas tree; a frustrated Charlie Brown standing in front of Snoopy’s doghouse; and, Charlie Brown decorating the tree in front of the prize-winning lights display on Snoopy’s doghouse.

It was on this day on October 2, 1950 that “Peanuts” made its debut in seven newspapers: The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Allentown Call-Chronicle, The Bethlehem Globe-Times, The Denver Post, and The Seattle Times.

This is not the first time Peanuts has been celebrated on a stamp. The Postal Service issued a Peanuts Commemorative stamp in 2001.

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