What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. But what about a peanut? Specifically, what about "the" Peanuts, as in Charlie Brown and his adolescent cohorts?

The Peanuts origin story is intertwined with American history. The series creator, Charles Schulz, honed his craft while serving as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe. Despite being drafted by the United States Army in World War II, he never stopped drawing. According to Kari Schuetz's 2016 biography about the cartoonist, Charles Schulz sketched pictures of his military camp to keep his skillset fresh while overseas. After the war, Schulz taught at art school for a few years before his big break.

That turning point came in 1947 when St. Paul Pioneer Press began publishing a weekly comic strip featuring Schulz's original character. Within three years, the strip's popularity spread and was carried by multiple newspapers.

But what was the comic strip known as?

As originally published, Charlie Brown was part of a strip called Li'l Folks. The characters we'd come to love looked slightly different initially, but the personality traits were there from the beginning. More importantly, the heart that would come to define Peanuts was on display even when it was known as Li'l Folks.

So, why the switch?

According to Karie Scheutz, Li'l Folks was too close to another comic strip's name. She then quotes Charles Schulz justifying the change.

"It probably doesn't matter what [the strip] is called," said Schulz, "so long as each effort brings some kind of joy to someone, someplace."