Mr. Peanut Visits North Shore Scenic Railroad

Mr. Peanut, the monocled celebrity representing the Planters brand of peanuts, will be visiting the North Shore Scenic Railroad and riding on the 1 p.m. Duluth Zephyr train.

Arriving in his luxurious, 26-foot-long Nutmobile, Mr. Peanut will greet fans at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum starting around noon. Then he’ll board the train for a 75-minute ride filled with photo opportunities — they call them shellfies — samples of some of the Planters brands and maybe give away swag to passengers.

Mr. Peanut is touring Minnesota all summer because it’s his new home. The Planters brand is now part of Hormel Foods in Austin. No stranger to peanuts, Hormel is already home to Skippy peanut butter, as well as Spam, Black Label and 40 other well-known food brands. Because Minnesota has 10,000 lakes, the famous legume character is giving out $10,000 checks to five local Minnesota charities and five Minnesotans who “add substance to their communities.”

Mr. Peanut was the work of a young school boy by the name of Antonio Gentile. In 1916 he won a nationwide contest to come up with a mascot for a Wilkes Barre, Penn. nut company called Planters. A commercial artist refined the drawing by adding a monocle and top hat.