A BRIEF HISTORY OF PEANUT PALS ...

"Peanut Pals" A 12-pg. 
advertising booklet 
featuring Mr. Peanut, 
published by Planters in 1927.

Peanut Pals was founded in 1978 by Judith Walthall after she and her family began collecting Mr. Peanut items and discovered many of the items they found had never been documented and that much of the information had been lost over the years. 

Planters President Douglas Lauder gave his consent in April of 1978 to the formation of a club, and later, Ted LoCascio, a long-time employee of Planters, and offered his support. On Nov. 1, 1978, the first Peanut Pals Newsletter was sent to 23 charter members. The first year the club existed only for the purpose of publishing the bi-monthly newsletter in order to establish communication between its 23 members. Permission was also received for use of the Mr. Peanut name and device, and Planters was given to Peanut Pals.

The first convention was held in Indianapolis, Ind. in July 1980, with Judith Walthall as first chairperson. Sixty-three members and guests attended. By early 1981, Peanut Pals had grown to 115 members and a second was held in October 1981 in Suffolk, Virginia, in conjunction with Planters' 75th Anniversary celebration.

Peanut Pals is a non-profit organization which currently has more than 400 collectors of Mr. Peanut items from throughout the United States and Canada. 

We are also receiving inquiries from other foreign nations .Peanut Pals encourages all those interested in collecting Planters and Mr. Peanut memorabilia to contact us and join with others who share in their interest. Planters Peanuts started in 1906 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  

In 1916 the company held a contest to create a company logo.  A fourteen year-old schoolboy, Antonio Gentile won the contest with his drawing of a Peanut Man and a commercial artist later added spats, a top hat, a monocle, and a cane to the drawing, and Mr. Peanut was born.