Some years ago Irwin and I visited with Kendra Daniels, a collector and dealer in children's illustration art, at her home. We viewed the amazing collections she and her husband Allan had assembled; and among the collections, I saw my first figurative skittle set.
Skittles is a form of ninepin bowling, for table top or floor. The sets Kendra collected were made in Europe in the 19th century, and consisted of whimsical collections of paper mache figures in wheeled wagons that relate to the characters. An antique example is shown on the right - in this case, a dog with puppies - from the LiveAuctioneers website.
As the summer drew to a close, I began to look about for a new Oz project and decided to give skittles a try. Most of my projects develop from ideas I've had for a very long time!
I decided that Quox, the dragon from Tik-Tok of Oz, would be a natural as a wagon, since he had seating for passengers attached to his back. For the skittles, I chose the Nome King together with an additional troupe of Nomes. The set needed a kingpin, and Ruggedo seemed like a natural choice!
Quox wears his pearl necklace and gold locket and, as in the book, there are eggs inside the locket to be used for knocking down the Nomes. Wheels are concealed under the dragon's legs, for rolling across the table or floor, and with the use of mini LEDs his tail lights up and his eyes flash.
On the left, Quox can be seen at the start of his paint job. The Nomes are lined up and finished. All the pieces are molded from paper mache like the antique versions. Below, a video shows the set in action!
Back in October of 2020, I showed the start of a new project; toy
figures of characters from the 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of
Oz. Over the past year and a half, I’ve continued to work with this
idea, and now have 14 examples - 11 main characters and 3 chorus girl
Poppies. It’s been a fun and entertaining way to pass the time during a
pandemic!
The
figures are built from paper mache, dowels, and various scraps of wood and heavy cardboard. They're based on photos and costume designs from the show, although they aren't really portraits of the performers. The actors were lavishly dressed, and creating miniature versions has
been challenging; some are more successful than others, but it's been
quite a learning experience!
I started with the familiar characters of Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Dorothy - then adding her cow Imogene, and the Poppies. After that I decided to continue on with the less familiar characters: Locasta (the good witch of the north), the Wizard, Cynthia Cynch (the lady lunatic), Sir Dashemoff Daily ( the poet laureate), Tryxie Tryfle (engaged to Pastoria), and Pastoria (the true ruler of Oz).
The characters are in stationary poses, but they do move. Each one has a mechanism built in to help them wobble, sway or nod, adding some motion to the mix! Edit: After posting this, I finished one more character - the Snow Queen, summoned by Locasta to save Dorothy from the Poppies -
Babes in Toyland is not an Oz book, but there is a very strong connection between this book and The Wizard of Oz - both stories were successful Broadway musicals in 1903.
After the stage adaptation of The Wizard proved to be a hit, the
producers came up with a successor to follow the wildly popular
show. Using a production team that included many of the same designers and writers who worked on Oz, as well as some of the same actors, Babes
in Toyland was the result. The musical is in three acts, like Wizard. The first act is based on a traditional pantomime, The Babes in the Wood, peopled with traditional nursery rhyme characters.Part of the second act is loosely adapted from The Wondersmith, a rather gothic tale by Fitz-James O'Brian, and the third act bears a strong resemblance to the previous hit, The Wizard of Oz!
The stage show was a success, and included a lovely score by Victor Herbert, with several songs that are still popular today. There have been film and television adaptations based on the show, and heavily rewritten versions are frequently produced around Christmas time. But nothing has been as lavish as the original production!
It's interesting to note that the show does feel like a definite attempt to outdo the Wizard - instead of a spectacular cyclone, Babes has a raging storm at sea AND an erupting volcano. Instead of the transformation of a field of chorus girl poppies into a snowstorm, there is the transformation of the Spider's Forest into the Floral Court of the Moth Queen, with a troop of chorus girl butterflies. Both shows include a threatened execution in the third act. Babes is more bloodthirsty than Wizard, with several deaths. In spite of these attempts, I think The Wizard of Oz feels far more original in its story and characters. A poster for the show can be seen above, sold several years ago at auction.
The book was published in 1904, a year after the successful extravaganza opened on Broadway. Glen MacDonough and Anna Alice Chapin are listed as the authors; Macdonough wrote the stage show, and I’m guessing the book was actually written by Chapin, using MacDonough's concepts and even some of the stage dialogue. It follows much of the first two acts of the show, with some changes - all love interests are cut, and the Toymaker, who is not an evil character in this book, doesn't die. At the same time, Alan and Jane's journey to Toyland is fleshed out with additional incidents.
Descriptions of various locations in the story are clearly based on the set designs of the show, but the illustrations by Ethel Franklin Betts are not based on the stage presentation. The exception is her painting of Alan as a toy soldier, and the cover design of Alan and Jane as toys. These are directly based on the costume designs of the show, as seen in the photo on the right, from the NYPL digital collections.
Earlier this year, I finished off a toy theater version of the show. Like my earlier toy theater version of The Wizard, it's based on the various scripts and photos I've been able to track down and reference. As with Wizard, it's not terribly accurate but an attempt to capture some of the visual aspects of the show. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find visual references for several of the scenes and characters, so I simply filled in as necessary!
For the last couple weeks, I've been working on a fun project - some figures of the 1903 Oz stage characters. Here's my version of the Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow as portrayed by Dave Montgomery, Arthur Hill, and Fred Stone, respectively.
The project actually started several years ago when I molded a couple faces off of an antique doll head. I painted these up to look like Fred and Dave, and then put them aside. I finally found my way back to them, and as I usually do, worked with various scraps found in my basement to finish the figures.
I then decided they needed a Lion, so I built him up as well, using more scraps and Sculptamold. The figures each have some movement built in - the Tin Man sways from side to side, the Lion's head wobbles and the Scarecrow sways forward and back. Who knows - maybe a Dorothy will eventually join them!
Edit 7/27/21 - Dorothy did indeed join the others, a few weeks later. She was just updated with a better wig - here’s a shot of the four together -
Easter is just around the corner, and while out shopping the other week I ran across some brown paper mache eggs. Inspiration struck and I decided to make a pair of Humpty Dumptys - one as drawn by W. W. Denslow, and one based on John R. Neill's interpretation.
Denslow drew Humpty Dumpty for a newspaper comic page, which was later published as one of his series of picture books, by G. W. Dillingham. Neill also drew the egg for a newspaper page, an adaptation from Through the Looking Glass, which became one of the Children's Stories That Never Grow Old.
Denslow's egg is quite jolly, due no doubt to the fact that he has been hard boiled and no longer needs to fear being broken. On the other hand, Neill's version seems rather glum, perhaps grown tired of sitting on his wall!
This past weekend I was at the National Convention of the International Wizard of Oz Club. As always, it was an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones, as well as experience a variety of programming dealing with various aspects of Oz.
This year I did a presentation based on the making of the toy theater I've been working on for the past two years. I spoke about the steps involved in creating the theater and the various scenes of the 1903 Wizard of Oz musical. Below are a few pages of sketches and drawings used to make the different curtains and figures used in the scenes of the show.
I finished with a showing of a simple stop-motion animated version of the show. It's an adaptation based on the script in the Library of Congress, and utilizing bits of music and songs that were in the production - though not necessarily all at the same time! L. Frank Baum makes a cameo appearance at the end of the show. I've never done anything quite like this before, and it was an interesting experience... but I don't think film-making is in my future!
Back in January, I attended the opening of an exhibition at the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures in Kansas City, Missouri. The show is called Over the Rainbow: Toys from the Land of Oz, and was organized by Jane Albright. Her aim, with the assistance of 20 or so other collectors, is to show as many vintage Oz-related toys as possible.
Along with the toys are a number of other rarities, from film costumes to souvenirs from the 1903 Broadway production. The show runs through August 20th and is well worth visiting if you happen to be in the area!
Here's an odd little item; in 1973 and 1974, Scholastic Publications published a series of sets of finger puppets. These were called Lucky Little People, and consisted of pages of characters that could be punched out together with a simple script for presenting a play.
I became aware of these because the first in the series was a version of Rumplestiltskin, with designs by Edward Gorey. As my partner is an avid Gorey collector, I'd known about that particular item for quite some time. But, since we never ran across any other sets, we wondered if Rumplestiltskin was the only set that had been published; it turns out we were wrong.
I've been unable to track down much information on these fragile pieces, but I now know there were at least five sets. Set #2 is a mystery as I've found no references to it. Set #3 was Famous Americans, set #4 was Hansel and Gretel, and set #5 was The Wizard of Oz. The last two sets were published in 1974.
There is no artist credit on the Oz puppets, which are colorful. A simple script was included with the set, a fairly faithful version of Dorothy's capture and the subsequent defeat of the Wicked Witch of the West.
This past week has marked the 77th anniversary of the release of the classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz. The film had several sneak previews during August 1939, but the 25th of August was the official release date, and the rest is history!
A wide variety of merchandise was produced at the time, to tie in with the movie. Among the many items was the Judy Garland as Dorothy doll, from the Ideal Novelty & Toy Co. The doll was made of composition and the face was sculpted to portray Judy Garland in her memorable role. This was produced in three sizes, 14", 16", and 18".
I haven't focused on collecting movie items, but I couldn't resist this when it turned up some time ago. This is an example of the 18" size, in lovely condition, although her clothing has been replaced. Ideal also produced a soft doll of Ray Bolger as the Strawman - something else I wouldn't mind having!
Billy Bounce was a comic page created by W. W. Denslow in 1901. The strip was innovative in its use of a continuing story line, as well as Denslow's design and use of the space on the page. In 1902 Denslow retired from the strip, and the characters were picked up by Charles W. Kahles who continued the comic until 1906. The example on the left is from the Sunday Press volume Queer Visitors from the Land of Oz, which includes a number of strips by Denslow.
Denslow
returned to the character in 1906, in hopes of creating a story that
could be turned into a Broadway extravaganza. The result was a rather
uninspired book, written in conjunction with Dudley Bragdon.
The character was popular and inspired a variety of merchandise such as pinbacks, cigars, and a toy bank. The bank seems to have been reproduced recently, with an example I picked up shown below on the left. On the right is an advertising cut for the original bank.
While the character is largely forgotten today, an animated cartoon based on the book was created in the 1960's as a pilot for a projected series. The project never took off, but clearly someone had remembered Billy fondly!
When I was a kid, I sent away for a set of plastic Oz-kins, which I painted and then lost track of over the years - all but the Glinda figure, who survived for quite a while before eventually vanishing. I've kept half an eye out for these figures over time, and have picked up few here and there, until once again I finally have a complete set - along with a few extras!
I remember painting the figures as a kid, using the woefully inadequate brush and paint that was provided with the mail-away set. It was not a success, but the figures were still fun; particularly since they included characters that were from the book series, not just the MGM film.
The figures are an odd mix, because the imagery comes from various sources. The Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion are based on W. W. Denslow, while Glinda, Mombi, the Sawhorse and the Soldier are based on John R. Neill. Dorothy, Toto and the Wizard are based on the characters from the Chuck Jones Off to See the Wizard cartoon series, which these toys were promoting. Proportions vary from one to the next, and overall it's a very strange assortment!
Last November I did a post about the toy theater I was starting to make, showing scenes from the 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz.
I'm still working away at it, and have made progress - although there are still several scenes to go! It's a fun project, requiring some ingenuity and a
good deal of patience, while trying to figure out the sets of the
show from the handful of surviving black & white production
photos.
In
my earlier post I showed the Poppy scene, which was my starting point
of the project. This takes place towards the end of Act 1, and is
followed by The Poppy Field in Winter. This was a transformation, with
the poppy scene transitioning through a snowstorm, finally revealing the
flowers vanquished by the Snow Queen, the travelers awakened and the
end of the first act.
Act 2 takes place in a courtyard of the Emerald City, a bizarre architectural blend of East and West. This is a shot of the scene in its early stages, as I was starting to figure out the various panels. I roughed out the ideas on paper, before painting and cutting the final drops from canvas. The
original sets for this show were extremely elaborate and complex,
involving a number of drop curtains as well as flats and set pieces. For
my purpose I've had to try and distill this into something a bit
simpler and manageable in a small size; the backdrops of the toy theater are about 12" by 20", which limits the amount of detail presented. This scene required some freestanding set pieces, constructed of balsa and paper mache.
Of course each scene also needs its cast of characters in appropriate costumes - the actors in the various scenes are approximately 4" tall.
Act
3 is set in The Borderland, with a color scheme primarily of lavender
and white. The use of color changing LED lights provides the ability to
enhance various colors in the different scenes. Once again, some
freestanding set pieces were required, included a cage of wisteria vines
which is used as a prison during the act - paper mache to the rescue!
The
story presented on stage veered drastically from that of the original
book, including an execution scene with the threat of death facing
Dorothy and her companions. Fortunately a speedy resolution is achieved,
and a happy ending!
Here's something new - or actually very old - that I don't think has been seen before. For a long time, the first recorded commercially produced Oz game has been the Wogglebug Game of Conundrums, presented by Parker Brothers Games in 1905. But here's a game from a year earlier, also featuring the Wogglebug.
The Woggle Bug Card Game was produced in 1904 by the New Idea Game Co. in Chicago - home of the Oz books. It's a complicated activity involving sequencing colors and numbers. The previously known Game of Conundrums is only Oz related due to its name and the use of the Wogglebug character on the box, but thisWoggle Bug Game uses four suites of playing cards featuring Oz characters - the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Wogglebug.
1904 was the year of L. Frank Baum's Queer Visitors From the Land of Oz newspaper comic page, and the characters seen in this game are clearly based on the drawings of Walt McDougall, illustrator of the comic.
Sadly, all I have is the instruction sheet (part of which is shown here) - the cards are long gone. But there is enough graphic material on the sheet to reconstruct the cards... so perhaps it may make a reappearance!
Lately I've been working on an ongoing Oz project. The 1903 Broadway production of TheWizard of Oz has fascinated me for some time, and I decided to make an attempt at recreating settings from the show in a toy theater format. Toy theaters were the play sets of the Victorian age, generally produced cheaply of paper that was cut and assembled to create sets and characters for a stage version of a popular story or fairy tale.
Of course to do this, I first had to come up with a theater. I decided I wanted something more substantial than paper, so after rummaging in the basement I came up with a wooden wine crate that seemed to be an appropriate size. Some more digging around produced some scrap moldings that had been in the house forever, and when combined, along with some balsa wood and paint, I came up with a very sturdy theater. (Clicking on photos will enlarge them for easier viewing.)
Once the structure itself was finished, it was time to work on a set. The original sets primarily consisted of a series of painted drops, which when layered together create the scene. I decided to start with the Poppy Field, which was consistently singled out in reviews as a highlight of the production. There are only a handful of visual references for the show, so I'm afraid my version can't be considered particularly accurate - but, it was an interesting challenge!
Of course, the stage wouldn't be complete without actors, so a number of figures were required. The poppies were originally an integral part of the set, played by chorus girls in large hats- I decided to make them double sided, one side flowers and the other side chorus girls showing a bit of leg - as chorus girls do.
When all the elements are put together, you get an approximation of the scene. Thanks to the availability of flexible mini LED lights, I was able to add the ability of lighting the stage - and in a variety of colors, which create different atmospheres. Sadly, it doesn't photograph terribly well - but then, theater is always better live, isn't it?
So, with a few more figures added we have the tableau of Dorothy falling asleep among the poppies. As this is the Broadway version, we also have Pastoria, Tryxie Tryfle and Imogene the cow. And Locasta, the Witch of the North, has arrived to save the day by calling forth a deadly frost....but that's the next scene.
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