Patty (Peanuts)
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Patty is a character in the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz (not to be confused with Peppermint Patty, a different and later character from the same strip). Her closest friend is Violet. The two appeared very early—Patty even appeared in the first strip, along with Charlie Brown and Shermy—but lacking the discerning characteristics of characters such as Lucy, Linus, or Schroeder, they became less prominent as years went by.
As the only female character in the strip's very earliest days, Patty often acted as a sort of mother-hen character, looking out for the younger characters; however, she also set the tone for the strong female characters in the Peanuts universe. In her second appearance, Patty is shown walking down the sidewalk reciting "Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice." She then punches Charlie Brown in the face and, without missing a beat, continues, "That's what little girls are made of!" Patty was apparently the oldest child in the strip in the early days, as shown by one strip in which it was noted that she attended school but Charlie Brown did not. Eventually, she, along with Violet, became best known for their social snobbery and combined cruelty to Charlie Brown.
Patty is fair-haired (variously blonde, redhead or light brown) and customarily wears a checked dress with a matching bow in her hair, usually coloured orange. Patty had a major part in the original version of the stage musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as the early animated Peanuts television specials.
Although Patty--or at least unnamed girls who bear a strong resemblance to her--would make cameo appearances throughout the run of Peanuts, she pretty much disappeared as a featured character by the mid-1970s, making her last official appearance on April 11, 1976. Schulz claimed he drew Patty in a 1994 strip in which she wants Snoopy to chase rabbits with her, although some fans have stated that the girl in the strip in question does not resemble Patty. Some have postulated that Patty's doom was sealed by the appearance of the similarly-named Peppermint Patty in 1966, but others say her character was already in decline by then.
Patty plays outfield on Charlie Brown's baseball team.
