All Aboard the M&O!

Leonards was legendary, and their M&O Subway is perhaps my favorite memory of the store. I had to share this advertisement that appeared in a Casa Manana program from the mid-60s. What immediately caught my eye was the conductor. Is it me, or does he look remarkably like the work of Charles Schultz? The head has a certain Charlie Brown shape, and those sure look like Linus’ eyes. I really doubt that Schultz was the artist, but it’s clear that his style was being emulated. The subway graphic was a frequently used symbol of Leonards, and I clearly remember it from the paper covers that we had to wrap our school textbooks with. (remember those?!)