Date of First Appearance:
May 30, 1951

Schulz on Schroeder:
"Schroeder and his love of playing Beethoven came from a music book I was looking at the very first year the strip began. We had just bought a tiny piano for our young daughter, Meredith: she was then only two years old. And I thought, 'Why not have Schroeder [who had just come into the strip as a baby] play the toy piano?'

"Sometimes, drawing the musical scores that Schroeder plays can be very tedious, but I love the pattern that the notes make on the page. I have always tried to be authentic in this matter."

Schroeder idolizes Beethoven and practices regularly on his toy piano. Schroeder's favorite holiday is Beethoven's birthday, but he also plays for all of the school productions. The music he plays is usually part of a real Beethoven composition, but it can also be dog prints, when Snoopy dances on the piano. Lucy is madly in love with Schroeder and she frequently leans on his piano to encourage him to notice her.