Linus Van Pelt is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy Van Pelt and older brother of Rerun Van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952, but was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referred to two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was first shown with his security blanket. When he was a costumed character in Mall of America during the Camp Snoopy years, he usually wore a blue baseball cap. It was removed from his head when he was redesigned. The character's creator, Charles M. Schulz, has said of the character, "Linus, my serious side, is the house intellectual, bright, well-informed which, I suppose may contribute to his feelings of insecurity." Lee Mendelson, producer of the majority of the Peanuts television specials, has said that Linus is his favorite character: "He made sucking your thumb and holding a security blanket OK. I think he's one of the most original fictional characters of all time—blending childish behavior with great wisdom."[1]