Convention 2017

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!

Ozzy Adapting

I recently found my missing half of this set of advertising cards. I've had the Tin Woodman for some time, but the Scarecrow proved elusive! These were produced in 1928 to promote performances of a puppet play written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. I have some more information in an earlier post here.

I find the artwork for these images interesting; they are taken from the endpapers of The Patchwork Girl of Oz, published in 1913. The printing quality is quite poor, when compared with the original book endpapers - a common occurrence with later printings of Oz color plates.

The original artwork is in the archives of the International Wizard of Oz Club. The piece appears to have had a rough life, but this is because it originally served two purposes. The main drawing of the Scarecrow and Tin Man was done to be used as endpapers in the Little Wizard series of books. There was no landscape in the background, just a shadow under each of the figures. The image was printed in blue ink, and the shadow was stippled rather than solid.

In 1932, some of the Little Wizard books were reprinted to be used with sets of jigsaw puzzles, and later as advertising for Jello; this time the image was printed in black with solid shadows underneath. This seems to be what the original artwork would have looked like in its original form.

When looking at the drawing in the club archives, it becomes obvious that the main image of the characters was drawn on a smaller piece of paper, which was later glued to a larger sheet. The shadows beneath the figures were whited out, and a new background was drawn in by John R. Neill. Several of the illustrations from the Little Wizard Series were adjusted and reused in The Patchwork Girl; in this case, the paper size needed to be increased in order to be the correct proportion for the larger book!

Ozma of Oz, 1964

The Children's Theater Company of Minneapolis is well known nationwide, and is particularly known by Oz fans for their lavish 1981 production of The Marvelous Land of Oz. This show was filmed and released on video, and can be seen on YouTube. But in 1964 there was an earlier Oz production by a forerunner to CTC, The Moppet Players: Ozma of Oz.

This show was reviewed by Ruth Berman in a 1964 Baum Bugle, in the Oz Behind the Footlights section. I've always been intrigued as to what this production might have been like, and recently ran across photos on the CTC Alumni Archive blog. This is a blog featuring photos, sound clips and video clips from productions at the theater over the years.

According to Ruth's review, the show was very faithful to the book. From the photos, it appears that the Tin Woodman was left out of the story, and there is no sign of the Hungry Tiger or Cowardly Lion. The photo at the top of the page shows the Queen of Ev and her son, Tik-Tok, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Ozma (in a strange choice of costume - all blue and black, including the poppies in her hair!), and Billina the hen.

Above, Dorothy and Billina are trapped on a rocky hill by the Wheelers. On the left, Ozma confronts Princess Langwi- dere, who has shut Dorothy up in a tower. Below, Princess Langwidere is seen changing heads with the help of her maid, Nanda.

There are more photos on the theater blog. The Children's Theater Company split away from The Moppet Players not long after this time, and the show is clearly simpler than the productions that CTC became known for. But it is fun to see documentation of this play!

Convention Centerpieces

Late last year I agreed to take on a project for this year's National Convention. This consisted of making a dozen table centerpieces for the Friday night dinner. The idea began when co-chairperson Jane Albright ran across a large styrofoam ear of corn last fall. After she mentioned the idea that it could be a good start for a centerpiece, based on the corncob mansion of the Scarecrow, I was inspired and offered to take on the project.

My inspiration was the color plate by John R. Neill, found in The Emerald City of Oz. I did make some changes in the arrangement of the windows and the top of the house, but otherwise attempted to stay true to Neill's concept.

I had the idea of creating something along the lines of an old fashioned German candy container - a paper mache piece that would open to reveal a surprise inside. Starting with the styrofoam corn, I carved windows and doors then added window frames and shutters. This was then used to create a rubber mold, as I needed to make a dozen finished pieces.

The base, bottom of the corn and topper were also cast in paper. Stairs were created from balsa, and all parts were painted and glittered to add sparkle. I discovered metallic crepe paper online, which made excellent husks, and a couple garlands of artificial flowers were pulled apart, painted and glittered to add more color and interest to the base.

The final touch was to add Oz characters, taken from the Oz Toy Book, reduced in size and glittered. Add a bag of candy to the interior of each one and voila! A centerpiece!

Convention!

I've finally attended an Oz convention - This past weekend was the National Convention for the International Wizard of Oz Club, held in Holland, Michigan. It was a fun weekend of presentations, food, and entertainment. There were tributes to both Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, as well as an appearance by Margaret Pellegrini - one of only three Munchkins from the MGM film who is still with us. There was the traditional auction, presenting opportunities to add to collections, and a dramatization of Tamawaca Folks, a lesser known work by L.Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum's summer home, The Sign of the Goose, was located nearby on Lake Macatawa. The Baum family spent several summers there, until Baum's bankruptcy forced the sale of the house. Unfortunately the home is long gone, but early conventioneers had a chance to visit the site where the house once stood.

Additional presentations covered a trip through various castles of Oz, Baum's time in Macatawa, and a biography of Matilda Gage - Baum's mother-in-law, and one of the leading lights for women's suffrage. Robert Baum shared anecdotes relating to the various homes where his great-grandfather lived, and there were tributes to both Sky Island (Baum's book for 1912) and Denslow Island (W. W. Denslow's Bermuda retreat).

There was a sing-along, a show & tell, and several vendors had tables offering Oz wares. Craft tables offered convention-goers the opportunity to create their own souvenirs of the weekend - like this decoupage ornament featuring the Hammerheads from The Wizard of Oz! All in all, everyone appeared to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Next year the National Convention is merging with the Winkie Convention - it should be quite a time!

Conventions

Happy 4th of July!

Once again, it's the time of year for Oz conventions! In California, the Winkie Convention is being held July 27 - 29 in Pacific Grove. This year's theme is Sky Island, celebrating its 100th birthday, as well as the 121st birthday of Ruth Plumly Thompson. More information can be found here, and a Winkie Con tribute page can be seen here.

This year I'll be attending the National Convention being held August 17 - 19 in Holland, Michigan. I've been working on a project for the convention over the past several months, and will actually make it to the event! More info on the National Convention can be found here - celebrating Oz-related islands, castles and homes.

Convention Time!

Summer seems to be the time for Oz conventions and festivals! Unfortunately, I don't tend to get to any, but there are quite a few to choose from.

In previous posts I've mentioned the Chittenango Oz-Stravaganza which was held last week, and the upcoming IWOC National Convention at The Land of Oz Park in Banner Elk, North Carolina (Aug. 5 - 7 ).

There's also a Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival in Indiana in September, and this coming weekend is the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

But the longest running convention is the Winkie Convention held in Pacific Grove, California, coming up on July 8 - 10. This years theme is Under the Sea, celebrating the 100th anniversary of L. Frank Baum's The Sea Fairies, and the 80th anniversary of Ruth Plumly Thompson's Pirates in Oz. There's even a WinkieCon Boutique on Zazzle, providing shirts and tote bags, featuring the two lovely images seen in this posting!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Baum

Don't forget - in honor of L. Frank Baum's birthday today, take a photo of yourself and something Ozzy in your life and email it to:  IWOCEvent @aol.com. Do it today!

Baum Birthday Bash!

In honor of L. Frank Baum's birthday on May 15th, Oz Club member Jane Albright is asking Oz fans/collectors/enthusiasts to take a photo of themselves that day showing how they enjoy Oz - then send it to IWOCEvent@aol.com. These photos will be used in a musical slideshow at the Oz Convention this summer in Banner Elk, NC (info here). Jane is looking for as much variety as possible, showing Ozzy crafts, gardens, clothing, vehicles, etc....so be creative! Here's one for me - it's pretty straightforward and a little early, but might as well get the ball rolling.  Remember, the idea is to take the photo on the day (May 15). It's a fun idea!

East is East and West is West....Sometimes

A few posts back, I had a question from a reader asking about Oz maps and why the Munchkins and Winkies switch locations on various maps. This is one of those perennial questions that has no definite answer, but there are a number of theories.

The first map of Oz was created as a glass slide for L. Frank Baum's traveling show The Fairylogue and Radio Plays. On this simple map, seen on the right from The Annotated Wizard of Oz, the Munchkins are in the east and the Winkies are in the west, as described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The next map came out in 1914, as the endpapers of Tik-Tok of Oz. On this much more detailed map, the Munchkins are on the left, which is usually the west, and the Winkies are on the right, usually the east. However, the points on the compass rose clearly place the east on the left and the west on the right. This is unlike any standard map, but Oz is a magical land - perhaps that is simply how things work there!

When this map was reprinted in 1920 to hand out with Oz books purchased that year, someone seems to have noticed the unusual compass points and corrected them. The Munchkins are now irrevocably in the west, and the Winkies in the east. Ruth Plumly Thompson regularly referenced the Oz map when writing her stories, so the two countries remained in their incorrect locations.

When new maps were created in the 1960s by Oz Club members James Haff and Dick Martin, the odd placement of Munchkins and Winkies was corrected. The new maps used a standard compass rose, and the entire country was reworked to try and clear up location discrepancies. This is the same basic map currently available from the International Wizard of Oz Club, although it has been updated a few times over the years. But I still like the original map in Tik-Tok with it's unique directions - that's how I think the map should be!

Book Collector's Guide

For years, the bible for Oz collecting has been Bibliographia Oziana. This book, which is available from the International Wizard of Oz Club, is still the best guide to identifying early editions of the Oz books, and learning important publication points. Copies may be ordered from the club website: http://ozclub.org/Home_Again.html

I'm very excited about a new book to be published next month called The Book Collector's Guide to L. Frank Baum & Oz. This book is written by Paul Bienvenue and Robert Schmidt, and will feature all of Baum's published titles, as well as later Oz titles and related pieces, with variations and rarities all in color images.
This volume has been in the works for some time – in fact I contributed several pictures 6 years ago or so. I'm curious to see what may have been used.

Copies may be ordered online from Paul's shop, March Hare Books: http://www.marchharebooks.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page_BaumandOzPg

Latest Bugle

The latest Baum Bugle arrived a few days ago, featuring the centennial of Ozma of Oz, the Oz book for 1907. Ozma has always been one of my favorites, as it has been for many readers. I particularly enjoyed an article in this issue by Michael O. Riley examining the story arc of Ozma and the three following books, with the idea that these four books truly constitute the Oz series - after all, the series was intended to end with the last title of that group, The Emerald City of Oz. The other major articles are an appreciation of Ozma by Atticus Gannaway, a review of the series Tin Man by Eric Gjovaag, and an article on Arthur Freed by Mark Griffin. As always, a fun read - and a very nice mention of my blog as well!

Animal Fairy Tales

L. Frank Baum's Animal Fairy Tales was another series of short stories, originally published in The Delineator magazine, in 1905. These stories dealt with the animal kingdom, and the fairy legends of the animals.

These stories were not collected in book form until 1969, when they were published by The International Wizard of Oz Club, with illustrations by Dick Martin.

A later edition was published by Books of Wonder, using facsimiles of the original magazine pages with illustrations by Charles Livingston Bull. I've seen many pieces of Bull artwork offered over the years, but haven't run across anything from this series - I'd be curious to know whether any of these drawings survive.

In 1953, Reilly & Lee published Jaglon and the Tiger Fairies, a re-written version of one of the stories, as a book with illustrations by Dale Ulrey. One of these days, I'll have to get a copy of that!

An Oz Relic?

I'm sorry to say I've only ever made it to one Oz convention, and that was an Ozmopolitan convention about ten years ago in Wisconsin. I didn't get to attend the whole weekend, but was there for the day on Saturday and enjoyed myself - having read about the conventions for years, I was happy to see one in person.

One of the Saturday highlights, of course, is the Oz auction. I didn't have much luck at the auction, but did come away with one unique item - in a fit of desperation (perhaps?), I bought Dick Martin's typewriter. ?Why? I would never be able to say, but it was there and no one was bidding - and I must have been carried away by the moment. Anyway, a few dollars later it was mine and has been residing in my basement ever since! There are no signs of his ownership, and I couldn't say if he ever even used it - although it's clear that someone did.

Among his many Oz-related projects, Dick Martin did write and illustrate one Oz book. The Ozmapolitan of Oz was published by the International Wizard of Oz Club and is currently available in a new edition.

Baum Bugle

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.

The International Wizard of Oz Club

In my last post I mention IWOC - I'd be remiss not to talk about the International Wizard of Oz Club in a discussion of Oz. Created in 1957, IWOC has helped foster Oz collecting and the study of all things Oz for 50 years. The club is a volunteer organization with a periodical (The Baum Bugle), and various conventions around the country. As a budding Oz book collector, the essential information needed can be found in Bibliographia Oziana, published by the club. If you have a true interest in tracking down first editions/printings/states of the Oz books, you need this guide. The publishing intricacies of the Oz books take some sorting out, and it's easy to make mistakes through ignorance. The club website can be found at www.ozclub.org