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Wheeling, West Virginia — When Dr. William Mercer was 10 years old, he wanted to be an artist. His heroes are Peanuts creator Charles Schultz and Schultz’s character “Snoopy.”
But the cartoon art world’s loss was Wheeling Medicine’s gain, and Mercer went on to amass a collection of “thousands” of peanuts—most of which were given to him by his patients.
Now that Mercer is retired and no longer working in the office, the collection will come to the basement of the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum. According to museum organizers, it is currently a “work in progress” but should be ready for next year’s celebration of the museum’s 25th anniversary.
Not only will Snoopy and the other Peanuts characters be on display there, but Mercer plans to continue to showcase his anti-smoking “Joe too cool to smoke” program when schoolchildren visit the museum.
The blue “Joe Too Cool To Smoke” statue is the largest item expected to be on display there.
Mercer, who has been friends with Schultz’s widow Jean Schultz over the years, blessed the move.
“Mrs. Schultz made it clear that she wanted this to be a dedication to Dr. Mercer, not a pat on the back of Mr. Schultz,” said museum manager Lynn Maguire. “She wants him to be at the forefront of this.”
But Mercer insists the series actually belongs to the community. He estimates that as much as 70 percent of items are provided to him by patients, who in many cases handcraft them.
“I took pictures with everyone who gave me something,” he explained. “Those will also be on display.”
Mercer goes on to say that the cumulative book is about 1,500 pages.
Maguire said museum staff started the project by trying to illuminate the stairwell that leads from the museum’s main floor to the basement. She explained that children are often afraid to go down stairs because they are dark and dirty.
The area is now painted bright blues and yellows and is lined with Peanuts cartoons with colorful graphics.
Nearby is the “Snoopy Camp” exhibit featuring items related to the Peanuts character and his camping adventures.
The second showcases all black and white Snoopy items, as well as Christmas decorations and snowballs. Additionally, the Snoopy train is scheduled to run inside the museum. Thousands of other items were temporarily stored outside the warehouse.
“It’s a huge collection,” Maguire said. “This is by far the largest collection we’ve received.”
The Snoopy flag used to fly outside Mercer’s original offices on the corner of 12th and Eoff streets in Wheeling. He admitted he was forced to move from the building to a larger office because he didn’t have enough space to store peanut memorabilia.
Mercer said that after he retired last year and no longer has an office, he has nowhere to store and display a large number of items.
“And my wife wasn’t too crazy about me taking everything home,” he continued. “I thought about the museum, and it took off. I’m happy about it.”
Waiting for the public to see are Snoopy books and cartoons, and even a box of dozens of peanut-related ties that Mercer wears at work. But he and museum officials weren’t sure how best to display the tie, or the 200 T-shirts he’d accumulated over the years.
Western Liberty University officials have been asked for help and advice.
For copyright information, please consult The Intelligencer, the project’s distributor.
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