Today’s treasure comes from my collection – the Peanuts Character Portfolio. I was able to purchase this from fellow collector, Johnny. Thanks Johnny!
Johnny knew I’d love this piece since I’m a graphic designer by trade. The portfolio would have been sent out to licensees to select art for their products. Inside are the rules for art usage, color selection, approval process and, most importantly, lots of artwork. The artwork is ready to scan or photographed. As a designer, I thank my lucky stars that I don’t have to bother with this method anymore! Even the lettering would be manually crafted together.
The artwork is all Snoopy, with a little Woodstock thrown in. Every incarnation of Snoopy from 1989-1994 is covered by the portfolio. Sports, Flying Ace, Joe Cool and even some vulture poses show up in its pages. It seems the other characters must have gotten lost over time. Let me know if you find them!
Ok, so art guidelines might not interest every collector. What’s in it for you? Each page has the year on it. Having problems dating an item? Just look it up in the Peanuts Character Portfolio!* All artwork is only good for 5 years, so it’s easier to pinpoint when the item was produced. If only I had more than just 5 years! I even managed to find an example to show you.
I hope you’re as excited by this find as I am. Without further ado, the Peanuts Character Portfolio!
*I’m looking into a way to digitize the whole portfolio. Even then, I’m not sure if I could/should be posting online or distributing at all. There’s no real guidelines for that in the portfolio.
