By Brian VanHooker Published Oct 19, 2026, 12:00 AM EDT Opinion It’s Charles Schulz at his very best.
Image: Charles Schulz Add Us Add on Google Preferred Source Google Discover Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
In 1966, CBS debuted the now-classic television special, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . In it, all the kids in the Peanuts gang take part in typical Halloween activities, including trick-or-treating and pumpkin-carving — except for Linus. Instead, Linus is preparing for the arrival of a mythical being known as the “Great Pumpkin.”
As Linus explains, “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere,” then he distributes toys to the children waiting for him. Linus spends the special writing letters to the Great Pumpkin and trying to convince others of its existence. Then he spends Halloween night in a pumpkin patch, awaiting the Great Pumpkin’s arrival. Of course, the Great Pumpkin never emerges, but Linus still vows to wait again next year.
To the casual Peanuts fan, that may be all they ever know of Linus and the Great Pumpkin, but dedicated readers of the Peanuts comic strip know there’s much, much more to the story.
Image: Charles Schulz The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned in a Peanuts comic on Oct. 26, 1959. In it, Linus is writing a letter to the Great Pumpkin when Lucy asks, “What in the world are you doing?” In reply, Linus says, “Don’t you know? This is the time of year when we all write to the ‘Great Pumpkin’ and tell him what we want for Halloween. The ‘Great Pumpkin’ loves little children. I can see him now, rising up out of the pumpkin patch with his big bag of toys!” Meanwhile, Lucy just stares at him, dumbfounded.
Image: Charles Schulz The very next day, Charles Schulz released a similar strip with Linus again chattering on about the Great Pumpkin, while Charlie Brown stares blankly at him.
Image: Charles Schulz There are a few more strips where people just stare at Linus in disbelief. Charlie Brown eventually tells him, “You’re crazy.”
Image: Charles Schulz Of course, the Great Pumpkin never arises out of the earth to disperse presents. And it certainly doesn’t respond to any letters. Charlie Brown and Lucy even tease Linus about it after Halloween.
Image: Charles Schulz For the next few years, Schulz would repeat the pattern. During the last week of October, he’d have Linus write more letters to the Great Pumpkin and preach about the Great Pumpkin’s impending arrival. In 1960, he convinces Charlie Brown to wait in the pumpkin patch with him, and Charlie Brown asks a very good question. “It just occurred to me that there must be ten million pumpkin patches in this country… What makes you think we’re in the right one?”
Image: Charles Schulz Then 1961 featured a couple of particularly funny Great Pumpkin comic strips. In this one, Linus cites the recent historical record for Great Pumpkin appearances. “On Halloween night in 1959, the Great Pumpkin appeared in the pumpkin patch of Boots Rutman in Connecticut,” says Linus. He also says, “In 1960, the Great Pumpkin appeared in the pumpkin patch of R.W. Daniels of Texas.” The specificity here is very, very funny, so much so that it surprises me that this wasn’t also used in the TV special, as many of the Great Pumpkin strips predating the…