I could tell you about my first Snoopy memory, but that doesn’t matter because it’s not about me. You see, this story is much bigger than me because Snoopy is having a moment at 73 years old. Yes, I’m fully aware that the beloved beagle has been a staple in pop culture since the 1950s, but believe me when I say that Snoopy has risen to a new level of Internet fame that makes his role in the Thanks from Macy’s seems trivial. He is amassing 1.9 billion views on TikTok and has 5.6 million posts to his name on Instagram. (Did I forget to mention that there’s also a Flos lamp named after him?)
While browsing all the goods at the Brimfield Flea Market in May, I was delighted to discover a wealth of vintage Snoopy memorabilia inside Picker Pete’s shop. My friend Annie is a long time Snoopy fan so I decided to buy the whole set The Peanuts Philosophers by Charles M. Schulz as a present for his upcoming birthday. (I had previously found one of the books at random while thrifting in Austin, Texas, a few months earlier.) “Everywhere we go, there seems to be Snoopy,” says Peter of Picker Pete. “We always put the Snoopies in the front corner [of our tent] and people go straight to them.” Apparently, Picker Pete’s has a number of devoted Snoopy collectors who buy merchandise from overseas in China and Japan. This year, Picker Pete’s will also participate in the DC Big Flea Market, Todd Farm Flea Market and Harvard Flea Market. “It’s amazing how much collectors know about this,” adds Peter. “They’ll pick up a piece and say, ‘This is the second generation of the 1973 model.’ I’ll say, ‘Okay, if you say so.'”
Fast forward to October, when The Atlantic has declared Snoopy to be the new “hero” of Gen Z thanks to a new wave of fans on TikTok hit by an influx of existential dread. (But if you’re joining in, there are accounts dedicated to that kind of light-hearted content, too.) Of all the Snoopy memes that have graced my screen, my favorite is the viral image of a stuffed Snoopy in a mousetrap with the caption “This would catch a lot of you.” (O runner-up is this screenshot of an animated Snoopy on Elliott Smith’s shoulder with the caption “When I say I’ve got that dog in me, this is what I mean.”) Snoopy moves seamlessly in and out of the cultural zeitgeist, never quite falling out of face of the earth, but always returning with even more I don’t know what– Whatever “It” is, Snoopy has it and then some. In recent years, an insane amount of exclusivity Peanuts collaborations emerged from brands such as Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, Vera Bradley, Re/Done, Moncler, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids, Swatch and CVS.
