‘Peanuts’ Exhibit To Debut July 22 at Kruger Street Toy And Train Museum

Emma Delk

WHEELING -- "Peanuts" lovers and Snoopy enthusiasts will congregate at the opening of Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum's new "Dr. Mercer's Too Cool To Smoke/Vape" exhibit on July 22.

The display will feature the extensive collection of Peanuts memorabilia amassed by Wheeling physician Dr. William Mercer.

Free of cost, the opening will be an all-day affair including games for kids, souvenir hand-outs and exhibit tours hosted by Mercer himself.

A musical performance by 11-year-old pianist Seth Williams will also be featured at the opening. Williams will perform renditions of popular "Peanuts" theme songs along with original pieces in "the spirit of Schroeder," according to Toy and Train Museum Manager Lynn Maguire.

The new exhibit is the "largest undertaking" the museum has ever done, explained Maguire, as the display took two years to complete.

Snoopy items will fill up an entire banquet hall on opening day.

New collectibles featured include holiday-themed Snoopy memorabilia filling up display cases with hundreds of Snoopy trophies sitting on top of these displays.

"Instead of several hundred Snoopy items, you are going to be seeing thousands now," said Maguire on what the exhibit adds to the museum's Peanuts collection.

A plethora of other Peanuts-themed items will be displayed, from Pez dispensers to candles. Each Peanuts character will also have a dedicated section in the museum.

Apart from unique collectibles, the exhibit will feature other more personal items from Mercer's collection, such as a handmade Peanuts music box whittled for him by a homeless patient.

Mercer's collection is largely built on patient gifts, beginning in 1987 after he designed a Snoopy-themed pediatric room at his practice.

"Patients just started to bring me the Snoopy characters and it continued on even until now," explained Mercer, a 2023 inductee into the Wheeling Hall of Fame.

The idea for the exhibit began once Mercer retired and needed somewhere to house the memorabilia he had accumulated over the past 40 years apart from his basement.

Born through the collaboration between Mercer and the museum, Maguire described the creation of the exhibit as Mercer giving them his vision and the museum then "whipping his thoughts into shape."

The exhibit is not Mercer's first collaboration involving the Peanuts brand, as he has built a relationship with Jean Schulz, wife of the Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, through his "Joe Too Cool to Smoke/Vape" program. The program began when Mercer gained special permission from the Schulz family to teach students across the Ohio Valley the hazards of tobacco and vaping using a "Joe Cool" statue.

"I've met people whose class I visited in the fifth grade that will come up to me now grown-up and say that they loved that program," said Mercer.

To share the story of his extensive and close history with the Peanuts, Mercer will lead tours of the exhibit at the beginning of every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on opening day. The collector has many anecdotes about the items he has amassed over the years, including a "You Must Be This Tall To Ride" sign from Kennywood featuring Snoopy he won on eBay.

"There's quite the story for that one," he teased.

Maguire described seeing Mercer's collection fully realized as "beautiful" and explained that the museum could craft the exhibit easily as this was the largest collection the museum had ever received.

"Receiving such a great amount of items allowed us as museum artists to really create something special because there was so much to decide upon," said Maguire.

"I know there's a lot of Snoopy lovers out there that will love this new exhibit," added Mercer on the collection. "This is an accumulation of mostly presents from my patients, which makes it very special to me."