Mr. Peanut Was the Creation of an Italian-American Schoolboy
Smithsonian Magazine
In 1916, Planters® Nut and Chocolate Company ran a contest for a trademark. Antonio Gentile, a resident of Suffolk, Virginia, the peanut-growing capital of the state, began sketching possible entries for the contest. He drew a friendly, humanized peanut tumbling, serving nuts, and walking with a dignified cane.