Lucy, of the "Peanuts" comic strip, driving a Jeep. Peanuts was first published in 1950, but the exact date of this toy is uncertain. The Jeep is clearly a high-hood CJ-3B, so it may date from the mid 1950's. The purple Jeep with opening hood carries a United Features Syndicate copyright date of 1952, but this appears to refer to copyright on the Peanuts character rather than on the toy itself. Lucy Van Pelt and her brother Linus were introduced to the strip in 1952, and Peanuts began its rise to national prominence just as the Willys Jeep CJ-3B also entered its heyday. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was first awarded the National Cartoonists Society cartoonist of the year award in 1955.
These small diecast vehicles were an early example of the merchandising of Peanuts (which soon developed into a significant industry). There were a number of different vehicles with the Peanuts characters in them, manufactured by Aviva, which was owned by Hasbro (maker of GI Joe). They were sold by Hallmark, the greeting card company which also held the rights to many other Peanuts products.
Thanks to Jarek Skonieczny for the photos. -- Derek Redmond
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