It’s a Cold War Christmas, Charlie Brown

The Peanuts Christmas Special Tapped Into a National American Zeitgeist by ‘Placing Capitalism and Christianity in the Mouths of Babes’

Charlie Brown spends much of his first animated special in contemplation, depression, and frustration over the Christmas holiday. “Find the true meaning of Christmas. Win money, money, money,” he reads from a flyer advertising a neighborhood decorating contest that his dog, Snoopy, is taking part in. Later, when Charlie Brown’s peers jeer at him for ruining their “modern” nativity pageant by bringing the puniest Christmas tree off the lot, the round-headed kid wonders, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

In response, Linus van Pelt steps up …