Amid the tumult of the 1970s – often regarded as one of the most divisive decades in American history – some cultural touchstones remained reliable and comforting – namely, Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strip. Staying true to the tried and tested humor of the comics, but adding new and intriguing storylines, kept interest for Peanuts consistent through the '70s and beyond.

Fifty years ago, Peanuts leaned on its fan favorite duos like Snoopy and Woodstock, as well as Lucy and Charlie Brown, to produce some side-splitting comics. At the same time, Peanuts got in on the artistically experimental mood of the '70s, in its own way.

For instance, meta-humor called back to the characters' existence in a comic strip, while a surreal strain of the comic featured the Peanuts kids' school building as a thinking and talking character. As Peanuts had its 25th anniversary in 1975, the comics reflect the property staying true to itself but still embracing some refreshing stylistic deviations.

10 "I'm Looking Forward To This Next Batter"

First Published: May 3, 1975

With Lucy playing right field on the baseball team, Charlie Brown is sometimes lucky enough that no balls go to her section of the field. Given how bad of a player she is, the Peanuts team has more of a chance at winning when no balls fly into right field. However, as one classic comic from 1975 captured, a game occurred where seemingly all the balls were hit to right field, resulting in a lot of success for the opposite team, at Lucy's expense. In the strip, Lucy offered an excuse for why she missed each ball, exasperating poor Charlie Brown more each time.As overconfident as Lucy can be at times, especially when it comes to giving psychiatric advice, even she doesn't seem to be too sure of herself and how she'll handle the next batter.

9 "Z"

First Published: May 1, 1975

Schroeder loves his piano; Peanuts readers quickly became accustomed to the young aspiring musician using every ounce of his being to be like his hero Beethoven. Pursuing musical greatness may seem like a singular pursuit but it actually involved others in the Peanuts gang. For instance, Snoopy got stuck in the middle of Schroeder's music, literally. In a comic that dabbled in metahumor, Snoopy's head became stuck in between the written notes of what Schroeder is playing, showing the written out notes of the music taking up physical space in this Peanuts comic. As a result, Peanuts acknowledged its existence as a comic strip. Exemplifying that Schroder is single-minded when it comes to his piano playing, Snoopy is an unfortunate bystander, where Schroder does not even seem to notice that Snoopy's head is caught in the musical notes.

8 "What I Learned In School This Year"

First Published: May 27, 1975

Peanuts' Sally, like many children, did not like school. She tended to think of school as being more trouble than it was worth. Fittingly, her social science report at the end of the school year in 1975 revealed that what Sally learned from the school year was not a math technique or history lesson. Instead, the whopping thing that Sally learned in school this year was to watch her lunch to avoid it getting stolen. Unfortunately for Sally, she had been made well aware of the problem with lunch thievery, learning this lesson the hard way. Keeping a watchful eye on her lunch was the standout of her learning at school, which is not a great reflection of school, though it was perhaps a good source of preparation for the real world at the end of the day.

7 "The Sort Of Thing That Can Throw Your Timing Off"

First Published: May 15, 1975

Yelling at one's teammate the moment they are pitching is not the greatest idea, and is often bound to result in a lousy throw. However, the success of her team's pitcher, Charlie Brown is of no concern to Lucy, especially when she can yell at him instead. Oddly, Lucy takes the opportunity to yell at Charlie Brown about there being more to life than baseball ,while they are literally playing baseball, showing that Lucy is just as bad at timing things as she is bad at baseball. More than understandably, Charlie Brown is unhappy with his ruined pitch, annoyed that Lucy has thrown his whole attempt off. It's just another instance of poor Charlie Brown getting the short end of the stick to his misfortune and the reader's humor. It looks like yet another loss for the notoriously bad Peanuts baseball team, thanks to Lucy.

6 "When I Was Young I Used To Dream"

First Published: May 13, 1975

One of the more original and rare aspects of Peanuts was its inclusion of the School Building as a character who thinks, feels, and talks. Oddly, the School Building was noted to have been depressed, which is something that is quite noticeable in this comic. When the School Building laments how it never got to be a liberal arts college like it dreamed of, it takes its anger out on an unlucky Linus by dropping a brick on his head. Defending itself by explaining that it has a right to be bitter, the School Building let its disappointments and failed dreams become violent, literally destroying a piece of itself to throw a brick at an unsuspecting child, in this case Linus. By far, this is one of the most unusual Peanuts jokes, which is a significant part of its charm.

When the original School Building collapsed in 1976 because it didn't want to be around anymore, the following iteration of the new School Building was able to think, feel, and talk as well.

5 "Woodstock Didn't Fly South This Year"

First Published: May 7, 1975

Woodstock and Snoopy are some of the most beloved Peanuts characters. Their fan favorite status, however, did not mean that they were without their quirks. Woodstock especially had his own way of doing things that were not always the best or most logical. Sometimes, he could be just plain airheaded, as this comic suggests. When Snoopy saw that his pal had not flown south for the year, he was informed that it was because Woodstock just forgot. The one thing that birds are supposed to do every single winter, and Woodstock managed to forget. Even Snoopy couldn'y help but roll his eyes at Woodstock for his very silly slip-up. On the bright side, Woodstock's little oopsie meant that him and his best buddy Snoopy got to spend more time together, even if it is in the freezing cold.

4 "How About No Rose At All?"

First Published: May 9, 1975

Lucy always tried her hardest to steer Schroeder's attention away from his piano and onto her. Rarely did her attempts work on him. In this comic, when she explained what being given different kinds of roses means, she dropped a slew of some not-so-subtle hints for Schroder to gift her a rose of her own. Things backfired as usual, with Schroeder bringing up the possibility of no rose at all, which Lucy did not respond to happily. She never foresaw the option of no roses, angering her and getting the best of her yet again. While Lucy made her infatuation with Schroeder clear, it wouldn't be wise for her to hold her breath, expecting to receive a rose from him. She would be better off reading him a book about Beethoven than a book about the meanings behind different types of roses.

3 "The Dog"

First Published: May 12, 1975

Peanuts regularly portrayed Linus as a very intelligent kid, able to dispense sage advice to his peers, or deliver relevant quotes that he thinks will help his buddies. Snoopy, who could wallpaper the rooms of his doghouse with rejection letters for his writing, once received a notable piece of writing advice from Linus, courtesy of the words of the author of Moby Dick, Herrman Melville, which the beagle took very seriously. The mighty theme Snoopy subsequently chose is very close to him, with "The Dog" being what he is most familiar with. The old adage goes "write what you know", something Snoopy may have taken a little too close to heart after Linus's talk with him. While Linus's writing help may have been some assistance to Snoopy, it's safe to say that the poor pup still received many rejection letters in the mail.

During a short time when Linus had glasses, Snoopy would steal them all the time just to mess with him.

2 "Everyone In The Stands Is An Expert"

First Published: May 18, 1975

Woodstock was a tiny character, making him feel vulnerable out in the world sometimes. Therefore, his nest was incredibly important to him, and he was even portrayed taking it to places like the beach. Understandably, when his home was destroyed, he gbecame livid. As this 1975 comic showed, when Woodstock's nest was demolished by a ball hit by Peppermint Patty, Woodstock makes sure to give the Peanuts baseball team a piece of his mind. Given that Charlie Brown's underwhelmingly performing team was heckled regularly, Woodstock's berating was just another instance of humiliation for Charlie Brown. While Peppermint Patty's fly ball was by no means intentionally aimed at Woodstock's nest, it did not make the little bird's anger any less. Woodstock took the opportunity to not only yell at the players, but got in a dig about Charlie Brown's pitch at the same time, making for another rough day for old Chuck.

1 "House Out Of Bricks"

First Published: May 17, 1975

The Three Little Pigs is a fairy tale that is familiar to many with the message that hard work pays off in the end. Snoopy being the good friend he was, relayed the story to Woodstock, who had seemingly never heard it before. While many may take entertainment from the folk tale, the story offered a personal lesson for Woodstock, which he took seriously. Learning of how the two first pigs had their straw and sticks houses destroyed, Woodstock was determined not to make the same mistake, remodeling his nest to be made out of bricks like the third little pig's house. While it may have been unorthodox, Woodstock's new digs offered him a sturdy and unshakable home, one that could withstand a big bad wolf, or a fly ball from a Peanuts baseball game.