# What's that tool, Charlie Brown? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [September 21, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535 "2024-09-21T00:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/1 "2024-09-21T00:15:38Z")
I’m stumped. This Peanuts strip from 1952 has Charlie Brown offering to tune Schroeder’s toy piano. He retrieves some tools: a saw, a heavy-looking hammer, a hatchet, a chisel. But what’s that tall thing he’s holding up? Looks like an i-beam with holes in it and a square cap on one end, but that can’t be it. Too big to be a bubble-level. So, what then? [![](https://i.postimg.cc/26XWtZnB/tool.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/26XWtZnB/tool.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/2 "2024-09-21T00:17:06Z")
Almost looks like a folded ladder to me. As for WHY it’s in there, TV Tropes calls that “Rule of Funny”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/3 "2024-09-21T00:18:43Z")
I agree; it’s a step ladder. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/4 "2024-09-21T00:22:32Z")
7 steps counting the top one. Looks from the side just like my aluminum extension ladder, with the openings where the hollow rungs are attached. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/5 "2024-09-21T00:26:32Z")
Look just to the left (your left) of the holes and you’ll see a line running the entire length of the object. That represents the other leg of the folded ladder. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/6 "2024-09-21T00:30:14Z")
You’re probably right. I suppose Charlie Brown was maybe going to climb the ladder and jump on the piano. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/7 "2024-09-21T00:39:40Z")
It’s a ladder, and the joke is that it would be ridiculous to tune a piano with any one of those tools. That’s why Schroeder is walking away with his piano in a huff. Charlie Brown would wreck it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/8 "2024-09-21T00:46:34Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > It’s a ladder, and the joke is that it would be ridiculous to tune a piano with any one of those tools. That’s why Schroeder is walking away with his piano in a huff. Charlie Brown would wreck it. - Charlie Brown would wreck it with the _right_ tools. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/9 "2024-09-21T00:57:11Z")
There are no right tools. Toy pianos (at least the one I had) have metal bars of different lengths in them instead of strings, and there’s no adjustment for them, unless you want to try filing them down. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/10 "2024-09-21T01:06:21Z")
I think we’re expected to pretend that it’s not a toy piano, but a tiny real one. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/11 "2024-09-21T01:16:22Z")
Definitely a step ladder. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/12 "2024-09-21T01:39:00Z")
[Should have hired a cow.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Cow_Tools_cartoon.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/13 "2024-09-21T01:39:05Z")
No, clearly that’s a cow tuner. EDIT: Shakes hoof at @Q.Q.Switcheroo ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/14 "2024-09-21T01:43:46Z")
To Schroeder [it was never a toy piano.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw6z7EfKfxI) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/15 "2024-09-21T02:28:21Z")
You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/16 "2024-09-21T05:36:58Z")
To me, it was always a toy piano, played brilliantly but with that toy piano “tink tink”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/17 "2024-09-21T17:14:31Z")
Like a > **[Tack piano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tack_piano)** > > A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound. It is used to evoke the feeling of a honky-tonk piano. > Tack pianos are commonly associated with ragtime pieces, often appearing in Hollywood Western saloon scenes featuring old upr... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/18 "2024-09-21T17:36:13Z")
I’m sure it was a toy piano. I’m also sure that Schroeder, Lucy, Snoopy, and others perceived the music that would have emanated from a real piano. We know this is the case because [the notes are sometimes illustrated](https://www.cbr.com/peanuts-snoopy-schroeder-beethoven-charles-schulz-importance/). ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/19 "2024-09-21T20:29:17Z")
Going back a few posts, [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Cow_Tools_cartoon.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Cow_Tools_cartoon.png) Gary Larson fans, whose devotion baffles me, need to explain that one. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535/20 "2024-09-21T21:55:09Z")
Do those tools look like something an intelligent critter would invent? Nope. Instead they’re bafflingly pointless. Exactly what you’d expect from a herbivore w an IQ in single digits. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-tool-charlie-brown/1007535.md?page=2)