Author: Jane Albright

This year Americans celebrate 100 years of the 19th Amendment to our Constitution.  In case you didn’t know, Oz fans have a particular reason to celebrate this centennial. Oz author L. Frank Baum’s wife Maud was the daughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a prominent leader in the Suffrage movement. Toward the end of her life, Matilda spent many months living in the Baums’ home. She overheard Frank telling is wonderful stories to children and insisted that he should write them down. Although her 1898 death meant she did not live to see her son-in-law succeed as an author, she had a profound influence on his philosophy, theology, and his fiction. Often credited as the voice that persuaded Baum to seek publication of his stories, Matilda’s influence went much further. Her writing about matriarchal Native American government likely inspired the way Oz is governed.  The strong female leaders of Oz distinguish American’s fairyland even as they have attracted criticism of it by those who object to the story’s feminist message. Matilda is who introduced the Baums to Theosophy and spiritualism. Her outspoken insistence that church and state should remain separate may have contributed to the absence of religion in Oz. Her granddaughter Dorothy Gage, who was born three months after Matilda died and lived only five months, is widely believed to the namesake of our Kansas heroine; Gage believed in reincarnation and her family had particular hopes that the infant would somehow continue to grandmother’s legacy. I am not remotely an authority on Gage. Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, on the other hand, is. The Oz Club’s first National Convention was held in partnership with the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, NY. Sally was our co-host, rallying Gage Foundation volunteers and resources to help Club members enjoy a Wonderful Weekend of Oz in and around the Gage home that is there. Her recent book, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, has her speaking around the country this year about Gage. Next week, she’s in NYC on a panel with Gloria Steinem for the Gage Foundation and the American Indian Law Institute. Angelica Shirley Carpenter, a past president of the Oz Club, recently wrote Born Criminal: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Radical Suffragist and is touring the country speaking about Gage and her book. Look for her forthcoming picture book about Matilda, too, The Voice of Liberty. In one recent talk, she was interviewed by Gage descendent Greg Morena (above, grandson of Ozma Baum Mantele). You can see that on YouTube here: Carpenter/Morena in Santa Monica.  Oz fans even outside the Club know Angelica for her young readers’ biography, L. Frank Baum: Royal Historian of Oz. She served as one of our Oz Centennial chairmen back in 2000, and chaired Oz, the National Convention 2010 in Fresno, California. Thanks to these two friends I anticipate a Gage-filled March!  Last weekend, the Oz Museum hosted an event in Wamego Kansas  titled “Suffrage and Oz.” The six-person Baker University Speech Choir performed a fascinating work using Gage’s biography and writings, followed by a more traditional presentation by Oz Museum curator Chris Glasgow. I was delighted to cheer them along from the audience. Chris blogged about Matilda here: Curator’s Corner.  Looking forward, Angelica will be speaking in the Kansas City area March 12-14, and Sally will be here speaking at Kansas University March 31. I have a reception for Angelica planned at my home, and am scheduling time with Sally while she’s in the area. I encourage Oz fans to attend any Gage presentations in your area. Sally’s Website lists her bookings, and Angelica’s is equally filled with presentation dates. A fun footnote, Oz Club member Karyl Carlson, primarily known as the “Doll Maker of Oz” for her handmade Oz character creations, has been appearing in character as Matilda in the Portland area. Those attending Oz, the National Convention 2019 can picture what a great job she’s doing because she was a charming addition to Angelica’s Gage talk in Thibodaux last June (below). This has been a long blog, but it’s about an unusual and significant topic I don’t want to shortchange.  If you have an opportunity to learn about Gage, jump at it!  Learning about the “Wonderful Mother of Oz,” as Sally Wagner has dubbed her, provides a fascinating insight into this beloved and influential woman whose significant, far-reaching impact on Oz is beyond measure.

In 1939 the state publishing house Detgiz in Moscow published a new children’s book. International copyright law was not recognized by the Soviet Union so Volshebnik izumrudnogo goroda (The Wizard of the Emerald City), by mathematics teacher Aleksandr Malentyevich Volkov (1891-1977), appeared under Volkov’s name with no mention of L. Frank Baum.  More than a straight translation, Volkov added original side adventures in place of some of Baum’s and never used the word “Oz.” He renamed the characters. Dorothy is Elli, Scarecrow is Strashila, and the Cowardly Lion is Leo. The Tin Woodman becomes an Iron Woodman largely because Volkov knew that tin doesn’t rust. Elli’s faithful little dog Totoshka speaks in Volkov’s tale, Baum’s Kalidahs become Saber Tooth Tigers, the Wizard is named Goodwin, and the witches are Villina, Bastinda, and Gingema. Illustrated by Nikolai Ernestovich Radlov (1889-1942) the book quickly sold 50,000 copies. The 1941 edition reportedly had a print run of 227,000 copies.  We now know that Volkov read The Wizard of Oz to improve his English at some risk; it was not easily available in the Soviet Union and was not state-approved. The story captured his imagination; when he read it to his own children they loved it.  The success of his book led to a new edition illustrated by Leonid Viktorovich Vladimirskii (1920-2015). Volkov edited his own text for this revised 1959 version. It became wildly popular in the Communist Bloc. So popular, in fact, that just like Baum, Volkov penned his own original sequels. With time he tweaked the story until Aunt Anna and Uncle John become Elli’s parents.  And Volkov himself  became a beloved children’s author, writing more than 50 books.  Now ingrained in Russian culture, the “Magic Land” books first came to life in puppet shows and on radio followed by stage musicals, live-action movies, and stop-motion television. Sculptures are found on the streets, postcards are mailed to friends, toys and games are playthings of Russian children. A computer-animated film Urfin Jus i ego derevyannye soldaty (Fantastic Journey to Oz based on Volkov’s The Wooden Soldiers of Oz), was released in 2017, followed by Fantastic Return to Oz in 2019.  Accepted as his creations, Volkov’s headstone is illustrated with Elli and her friends.   The 1939 MGM film was introduced to Russian audiences in the 1970s. Direct translations of Baum’s original story became available in the USSR in 1983 followed in 1991 with his sequels. Magic Land has been translated into other languages and is sometimes used as an English language text book. It is a more widely known version of the story than Baum’s in some countries. Modern Russian authors continue the series and a Friends of the Emerald City group is based in Moscow. A new reference book, Oz Behind the Iron Curtain: Aleksandr Volkov and His Magic Land Series (Erika Haber, Univ. Press of Mississippi) was published in 2017. While Club members and devoted fans are likely to have heard about Magic Land, it is not common knowledge with the public. For the next six months or so, the Oz Club’s case (below, left) in the Oz Museum, Wamego, Kansas, offers a look at Russia’s Oz and its creators.

The Autumn 2019 issue of the Baum Bugle is bursting with Baum. A celebration of the writer’s legacy, L. Frank Baum “crossed the shifting sands” in 1919. This issue of our Club’s journal looks at different aspects of his legacy 100 years later. From a review of the news stories and obituaries that marked the end of his life by Scott Cummings, to my own report on the Oz Museum that thrives today in Wamego, Kansas, Bugle editor Sarah Crotzer has served up an eclectic mix of articles to honor the beloved writer. Fred Meyer ( 1926-2004) served as Oz Club secretary for nearly 50 years. He once wrote about a fragment of an Oz story given him by a Baum family member who was certain it had been written by L. Frank. Sarah’s published that fragment here with the introduction Fred wrote at the time. We can never know for certain that Baum wrote it, but now we can read it and ponder. Another Baum family member–great-granddaughter Gita Dorothy Morena through her mother Ozma Baum Mantele–shares reflections on growing up as a descendant of the Frank Baum and how she aspires to carry his vision, creativity, and compassion forward through her work today. Fans, too, continue Baum’s legacy. You’ll find the earliest published Oz fan fiction in this Bugle. It’s a quirky little story written by two children — clearly readers of Baum — in their local paper. And illustrator Mark Manley, who has been recently been providing new illustrations for the Bugle, writes about his interpretation of Baum’s work into the glorious, full-color wrap-around painting that provides this Bugle with it’s front and back covers. Drama’s included, too; Ray Wohl takes us behind his writer-and-actor curtain to talk about the creation of his one-man show in which he takes on the character of L. Frank Baum to tell his audience the “stories behind the stories.” Dina Schiff Massachi adds an academic feature by exploring the appeal and appropriateness of Oz for kids today. To help reach today’s kids, we follow the aforementioned article about the Oz Museum, by encouraging you to celebrate Baum’s legacy by providing a Baum or Oz display in your own community. While our Club itself is part of Baum’s legacy, we also recognize individuals who contribute to it with the annual L. Frank Baum Memorial Award. This issue introduces Bill Beem, the 2019 recipient. I’ve known Bill since 1981 and was pleased to see him receive this honor. In addition to feature stories, the issue has news, book and arts reviews, and our made-for-kids enclosures, The Oz Gazette newsletter from Oz and a unique hands-on project to cut and color. This time it’s part two of a three-part project designed by David Kelleher; complete all three parts and you’ll have your own tabletop theater for paper puppet performances!  I suspect some of our members long past the youth membership category are going to be stepping out for green glitter.  

Our holiday mailing, sent to member homes in November, included a membership renewal form for 2020.  We’re already off to a great start with nearly a third of our 2019 members welcomed back for 2020. We hope you’ll add your renewal to the momentum and send the form with payment to our assistant membership secretary (and keeper of the Post Office Box!) Bill Beem. You can also always join online through the membership section of Shop.OzClub.org.  Is there’s an Oz fan in your life who you think would enjoy the Club? Consider giving a gift membership; we included that form, too. There was also a ballot that’s due Feb. 15.  Although the positions aren’t contested, we appreciate knowing if members agree with our nominating committee. Susan Hall who has long been active in our Club agreed to count the votes as they came in and report back. An envelope addressed to her is included for your convenience. This year’s greeting card is a fun one featuring two Oz favorites, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Patchwork Girl, hanging their stockings on a fireplace. The original artwork by the Oz Club’s own Dick Martin is currently in the collection of Jack Van Camp who offered it for our card. We believe it is previously unpublished. Inside we added the text of L. Frank Baum’s 1905 “Christmas Stocking” essay. The Baum family celebrated Christmas and Frank wrote this piece as an introduction to a series of small books that were marketed by publishers Reilly and Britton as “Christmas Stocking Books.” Our “Happy Ho(z)lidays” graphic was used in Oz Club cards for decades. Enjoy! The flier for the Club’s 2020 convention Aug. 6-9 in East Aurora, New York, should whet your appetite for the wonderful weekend Cindy Ragni is organizing. We’ve opted to make all meals optional this year and she’s been working on finding more affordable options, so registration itself hasn’t yet opened. To keep up with convention news between fliers, follow OzConvention.org. We can include more details there and will add the registration option as soon as it’s ready.  You will be getting a flier for the west coast OzCon International, too; at the last minute our printer caught a typographical error that made the dates confusing, so we pulled it from this mailing. That turned out to be advantageous because the dates have since changed to July 17-19. And finally, there’s a letter from me touching on some of the highlights of 2019 and thanking a number of our more active volunteers who made so much happen for our Club through the year. Of course, the membership year isn’t quite over; your Winter 2019 Baum Bugle will bring you a celebration of The Magic of Oz. And leave all of you trying once again to pronounce Pyrxqzgl.

If ever there was an exhibit I wish could last forever, it would be the one that brought Oz to El Segundo, California, for the summer of 2019.  Just minutes from the Los Angeles International Airport, the El Segundo Museum of Art (ESMoA), installation showcased original Oz illustration between five original Aiseborn and Copyison murals. Digital features completed the plan. I blogged about the June opening, but after seeing it myself, I wanted to follow up with another report. Local collector Freddy Fogarty, who was instrumental in the development of the exhibit, asked if I had original art I could loan. Sure! I sent reference photos and they asked for my Neill piece of the Wizard’s Workshop from Wonder City of Oz, a page from the 1970s Marvel comic of The Wizard of Oz, and some Skottie Young work from the more recent Marvel graphic novels. A local fine art shipping company packed my pieces and off they went. I couldn’t make it out right away, but then they scheduled Brady Schwind to talk about the artwork on display in context of his Lost Art of Oz project. It was a quick trip, but worth it. Right off the bat I realized that the poster for the exhibit was using a detail from a piece I’d loaned!  Too fun.  The entrance area was dominated by a graffiti wall surrounding a presentation of the Oz books. Many of the notes and illustrations visitors had left behind were charming, and I spotted many friends work on that wall. At the desk, I got my Oz passport stamped. An advance peek at the murals while the exhibit was being mounted didn’t prepare me for the drama of walking into the space. They were fascinating! One in each of the five Oz colors, they captured imagery from Denslow, the 1903 musical, the film version of The Wiz, and the artist’s own imagination. The Emerald City, which you see from the entrance, was being constantly swept with projected animation that added detail and sparkle. Then there was Freddy’s Corner.  Astonished at Freddy Fogarty’s Oz-packed home, the museum opted to replicate it in the gallery using both photography and collectible material. They brought in cases, shelving to hold pieces, and covered the wall with edge-to-edge Oz. The resulting mix combined Oz books with the Wonderful Game of Oz, Oz peanut spread, foreign Oz material, Return to Oz pieces (Freddy’s rare Heart to Heart plush Tik Tok from Japan was showcased in a spot of its own) posters, all kinds of Oz ephemera…  It was just an eye-catching,  eclectic outpouring that shared the joy of Oz.  Polychrome’s costume from Disney’s 1985 film Return to Oz clothed a mannequin.  A selection of books that emphasize Oz illustration were added to a sitting area completing the living-with-Oz presentation. Digital stations around the room allowed visitors to call up any piece in the exhibit to learn more about it. That feature, called the Grid, was available on their website, too, so I’d already gone through it at home. It was wonderful to see the names of so many collectors I know supporting the exhibit. After taking endless photos I popped back to my room to change and found the El Segundo tourism magazine waiting for me with a two-page spread about the exhibit. Then I met Freddy and Bill Graff for drinks at a tiki bar before the scheduled presentation. Brady’s talk was well attended, and in the crowd I found several friends; we posed in front of the Emerald City.  Such a treat to see Howard Dorre, who was just a kid when I met him in the 1990s. John Coulter, one of my favorite modern Oz artists, was a wonderful surprise. Robyn and Dana Knutson, and Barbara Boehm from the ESMoA team joined us in a group photo at the Emerald City. It was both a wonderful exhibit, adventure, and opportunity to celebrate Oz with other fans.    

Each year the Oz Club provides our Sustaining, Patron, and Wizard’s Circle Members an Oz calendar for the coming year. It serves as our thank you gift; we appreciate your financial support and hope to express it without incurring substantial expense. Each year the calendar has a different Ozzy theme. I do the majority of the work on the calendar and particularly enjoy finding and designing the full-color layouts for each month. Some years I have members contribute personal stories to fit the theme — for 2019 we featured different L. Frank Baum books outside the Oz canon with members sharing how they came across favorite copies. This year the calendar focuses on the decade of the 1920s. The 1920s were rich in Oz milestones. Oz had a new author who brought us new books and new characters. It was a decade of firsts, like the first Oz film made after Baum’s lifetime, the first Oz Club, and the first Oz toys. It was also the decade in which Judy Garland was born. From Jean Gros’ French Marionettes to the Junior League plays of Elizabeth Fuller Goodspeed, Oz found its way to new audiences during this period. These topics and more filled the 12 months. Scattered across the dates are bits of trivia tied to Oz. I generally always include publication dates of the Oz books as well as birth and death dates of important contributors to the world of Oz. But then I try to add anything I can find tied to the theme. So, for instance, this year I added the birth dates of actors from the 1925 film, dates of the 1927 coloring contest using Oz maps, and the 1929 read-aloud radio program that featured the Oz books. Of course dates for 2020 Oz events also are marked! Next year’s calendar will feature animals of Oz as they’ve appeared in Oz books and productions. From the earliest appearances of Toto and Imogen, to Billina’s starring roll in Return to Oz and the Sawhorse rolling across the Wicked stage, our 2021 calendar will revisit Oz through the appearance of some of its most beloved non-human characters. Join or renew at one of the supporting levels and we’ll acknowledge your generosity with the 2021 calendar.

Those of us who can’t get enough Oz fiction, look forward to Oziana, the Club’s annual magazine of creative writing written and illustrated by Club members. First introduced in 1971, Oziana often includes work of first-time Oz writers and artists. Our Patron and Wizard’s Circle level members receive an exclusive hardback copy as a thank-you gift for their financial support of the Club, but anyone can order a softcover copy.  Editor Marcus Mebes makes it available on Lulu.com. This year’s issue is available now. If you search Oziana you can find past issues, going back to 2009, available for order, too. Order Oziana 2019 here Marcus tells me the 2019 issue of Oziana brings together Oz Club members as writers and artists from around the world.  It includes four stories and one poem. Here is how he describes the 2019 contributions: “An Odd Transformation” by Sara Philips, relates what happens when uniqueness comes into question, and an adventure brings about some revelations about feelings and self-esteem. “Bitsy, the Patchwork Cat of Oz” by Jane Albright, (me!) is an adorable tale about Scraps’ carelessness and how a clever Ozian turns treasure out of mishap. “The Epiphany of Miss Gulch” by Paul Dana shows that even the coldest of personalities can melt with the right kind of love. “The Giant Weasel of Oz” by Nathan DeHoff finds Dorothy, Betsy, Button-Bright, Trot and the Wizard of Oz mean to find out what’s happening to all the eggs in and around Oz. “At the End of the Road.” by E.J. Hagadorn is a sweeping poem about life’s journey Profusely illustrated with glorious color covers, this issue will delight fans of Oz for years to come. My own copy arrived recently and I’m eager to read it. I had such fun writing the story I contributed. It’d been years since I’d had an idea for one I thought was good enough to write, and I was awfully happy that my friend Steve Smith offered to illustrate it. (If you read it and figure out who Bert is, let me know.) I’m sure every contributor shares that sense of satisfaction when this lovely annual publication arrives–and hope that readers will enjoy our work. If you write or illustrate original Oz stories, consider submitting material to Oziana! Marcus receives all the submissions we receive for our annual creative contests, but he accepts direct submissions, too.

Expanding Oz, an exhibit that used material from my collection, recently closed here in Overland Park, Kansas. On the last day I walked through the exhibit and talked about it as a live video feed on Facebook.  I’ve since uploaded it to Youtube so anyone can see it. I hope you’ll enjoy this 20 minute trip.  Just click this link and follow along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeOPCLZFrkk&t=294s