Vol. 60, no. 2 (Autumn 2016)
| Editor-in-Chief | Scott Cummings |
| Production Editor | Marcus Mébès |
| Bibliography Editor | Peter E. Hanff |
| Reviews Editor | Atticus Gannaway |
| Contributing Editors | Jane Albright, Angelica Shirley Carpenter, Sarah K. Crotzer, Jared Davis, Randy Hercey, Craig Noble |
Front cover art by Marcus Mébès, using elements from MGM Records’ 1956 soundtrack album
Back cover art by Norman Rockwell (the 1970 telecast of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz)
Autumn 2016 Selected Contents
This is a guide to the articles and reviews from the issue that will most benefit researchers, scholars, and collectors. The printed issue includes additional content such as news, editorial letters, and other commentary-based departments.
Timeless Appeal: The Wizard of Oz Comes to Television Sixty Years Ago
John Fricke looks back at the circumstances that led to the first telecast of MGM’s Wizard of Oz on CBS in 1956 and began a cultural phenomenon. Includes vintage advertising and a transcript of the host segment starring Bert Lahr and a young Liza Minnelli.
The Wonderful Wizard of Menlo: Thomas Edison’s Contributions to Oz
Scott Cummings examines the many references made to Edison, and inspirations found in his innovations, within the world of Baum’s Oz books. Includes a letter Edison wrote to Ruth Plumly Thompson before she became a Royal Historian of Oz.
What Children Want
In this essay, reprinted from the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1912, L. Frank Baum lays out his philosophy of what children do and do not want in their literature.
The Oz Project
In this interview, music video creator Sean Barrett discusses the development and shooting of his ten-minute “love letter” to MGM’s Wizard of Oz and The Wiz.
Abandon Care and Smile in the Land of Oz
Scott Cummings looks at how two major department stores used the Land of Oz as a theme for their holiday display windows in the early 1920s. Includes vintage newspaper ads.
In Memoriam
Jean Nelson (Wizard of Oz festival organizer).
Reviews
OzLand (feature film; reviewer Ryan Jay)
Images of Modern America: The Land of Oz by Tim Hollis (non-fiction; reviewer Atticus Gannaway)
Straight Outta Oz by Todrick Hall (theater and visual album; reviewer Dewey Davis-Thompson)
Glinda of Oz by Youth Theatre Northwest (theater; reviewer Eric Gjovaag)