Peanuts by Charles Schulz for December 28, 2024

As of this post today , Mr. Button is still alive. Also welcome to our first 1978 comic rerun. (they have a couple 1977’s left to rerun though)

I seem to remember this batch.

Found video of Mr. Frick when I googled him.

Here we go with sports references I didn’t even get back then.

Had to Google those people to get the references as I am clearly not into skating enough.. :)

Both were before my time as skaters, but since Dick Button was, for years, the skating commentator for ABC, he was on Wide World of Sports periodically and covered Olympic skating until Olympic coverage moved to NBC. He was very classy, quite a contrast to today’s duo of Johnny Weir and Tara Lapinski.

But what about Mr. Zibbles? And Dr. Banana? Or Captain Reference?

Dick Button?? That made me giggle! :D

Well I Googled him and found that unlike CB’s idol “Joe Shlabotnik” Mr. Dick Button is real and was an actual figure skater and apparently he is alive at 95 years old.

Take note that when this strip made sense in the ‘70s, it was just another ten years to remove “Figures” from figure skating. Today, she’d be practicing her triples.

Maybe some of you need to look up “figures” … and it has nothing to do with short skirts.

A preview of what’s to come for the 1978 Peanuts strips, though I guess Tuesday will be a New Years related and last 1977 Peanuts strip.

Who was Mr. Frick? Was he a valdeville ice skater?

He was a professional skater who retired and became like a circus clown, but on skates in the Ice Follies.

…That is, I will, if you stop calling me sir!!!

Far out, man!

Mr. Frick, whose real name was Werner Groebli (April 21, 1915 – April 14, 2008), was a renowned Swiss comedy ice skater

Patty’s getting her Peggy Flemming legs ready.

Mr Frick has a famous cousin named Mr Fruck. Mr Fruck founded a university and made a fortune on Fruck U sweatshirts.

PP looks cute in her skating outfit. However, I see her more of a speed skater than an artistic figure skater

Figure skater here. Besides skaters, do any young people know who “Frick and Frack” are? For that matter, do they know who Dick Button is?

As another commenter said, I knew who Dick Button is (since he’s still alive), but got the wrong Frick (former sportswriter, turned National League President then MLB Commissioner Ford Frick, who passed away in 1978).

Yes, the “figure” in “figure skating” comes from the compulsory figures, a.k.a. school figures, that skaters used to have to do in competition, drawing figures on the ice that the judges would then closely inspect. These showed the athlete’s skating skills and body control, but they weren’t very audience friendly, and so gradually faded in importance until they eventually disappeared.

Yet another rare instance of a pop culture reference in Peanuts.

I remember a lovely animated film where Pattie was trained by Snoopy for a skating competition and then the music wouldn’t work so the bird whistled the tune for her to skate to. It was beautiful.

Today’s skaters, mostly the men, look to be trying to fly with their flapping of the arms and feminism appearances.

I saw Mr. Frick a couple of times in the Ice Capades. His signature trick was to skate with his knees bent 90 degrees and his body was perpendicular to the ice. Impressive!

Finally, something that doesn’t take jab at Patty!

I like that rough and tumble Peppermint Patty loves figure skating. Of course, these days she’d be flattening the competition playing hockey.

“Marcie, I’ll even see about them letting you ride on the Zamboni.”

One of my very young memories is seeing Mr. Frick at an Icecapades show.