I recently received the latest issue of The Baum Bugle, from The International Wizard of Oz Club. It's a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Bugle, with quite a bit of reminiscing by former editors.
It's fascinating to me to be reminded what an important part the Bugle played in Oz collecting. Before old Oz books were particularly sought after, before anyone knew what constituted a first edition/printing/state of a title, the Baum Bugle was working to help collectors. For many people today it may be a simple matter of searching online to find copies of a title you're seeking, but it certainly wasn't that easy 50 years ago! I've been fortunate in living in areas with good used book stores, but the Bugle was a huge part of making rare books available to collectors who didn't have local resources to turn to. It's still a very valuable tool for learning about the many aspects of Oz.
I'm assuming most people who bother to read my blog are familiar with the Oz Club, but for those who aren't, the website can be found at www.ozclub.org. If you're a budding collector, or simply an Oz fan, you owe it to yourself to check out this site.
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