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Green grass, fresh air, less traffic, more privacy, and the room to raise a family: these were the attractions for which people flocked to the suburbs.
This new type of home, made popular by Abraham Levit, was mass produced and sold at a record low price. The growing middle class could now afford to buy property, rather than rent, thus Levittown, New Jersey became merely a prototype for the majority of America ’s suburbs. Families with similar backgrounds, social class, and interests could easily congregate and interact with one another in such neighborhoods. In addition to the physical characteristics of the neighborhood, Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), Scouts, and Little Leagues, made the suburbs attractive to young families. Just as in Peanuts, children were the main focus of the American suburb. After all, family had become the focus of American culture following the war and what better location to provide a healthy environment to raise children than the suburbs?
Much of the Peanuts comic takes place outdoors, showing the importance of physical space for children to roam and play safely. Whether it was the backyard (location of Snoopy’s doghouse), the front sidewalk, baseball field, pumpkin patch, or sand box, the children commonly interact in generic suburban locations. Little Leagues and summer camps were also integrated into various storylines showing children taking advantage of the great outdoors. As time went on, Schulz made the Peanuts neighborhood more and more abstract, which made it easier for readers to relate what happened in the strip to what happened in their own lives.
Throughout the 50s, the overriding characteristic of these new housing developments was homogeneity, consisting of white, young couples with young children. Oftentimes, leasing agents would not allow African Americans or other ethnically diverse families to settle in certain suburbs. When suburbs did eventually become more heterogeneous, families with the most similar lifestyles still occupied the same blocks and streets. Coincidentally, during the mid to late 60s, as the U.S. became more accepting of diversity due to the Civil Rights Movement, Schulz added the one and only African American character to the Peanuts gang. Schulz proclaimed that the addition of ‘ Franklin ’ was not a political statement, but rather the natural progression of the comic and was no different than any other previous addition. However, one must consider that the decision to add this particular character, at this particular time was a direct result and comment on the dramatic social change occurring throughout the 60s.