HOW THE GIRL FROM MINNESOTA & HOLLYWOOD BECAME THE GIRL FROM KANSAS & OZ!

By: John Fricke

[Above: Is there another pair of shoes in history more familiar, cherished, valuable, and magical than these — especially when they step out on a specifically hued road of bricks?]

Across the last nine months, multiple entries in this series have celebrated L. Frank Baum, including a special column about his Christmas traditions with wife Maud Gage and their four sons. (This is, of course, no less than is deserved by the native of Chittenango, New York, and the

By John Fricke

Above: This handwritten letter from L. Frank Baum to young Oz fan, Carleton H. Davis, is reprinted from THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF OZ/AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN CLASSIC (Down East Books, 2013), a book I was privileged to write to detail the history of all-things-Oz from 1900 to 2013. (Such a comprehensive summation, with over four hundred illustrations, could only have been compiled and presented in conjunction with the world

CORRESPONDENCE, REFLECTIONS, RESPONSES, AND INSCRIPTIONS FROM (AND TO)

By John Fricke

Above: All eight of the books on display in this poster were either recently or newly in print in 1901. More remarkably, all were authored by L. Frank Baum across the preceding five years. (Two additional, full-length Baum fantasies, A NEW WONDERLAND and THE MASTER KEY, were published — respectively in 1900 and 1901 — but they

A look Back-The Very First All Things Oz Blog

By John Fricke

This week the museum was thrilled to get new ornaments designed by renown slipware pottery artist, Irma Starr. They represent Clarence and Maragaret (shown below with John Fricke), and we though that the best way to celebrate them, was to re-share the very first All Things Oz Blog!

GREETINGS FROM THE BIRTHPLACE OF

😊 OZ-STRAVAGANZA! RETURNS LIVE &

By: John Fricke

Above: Meet the five special guests whose talents and professional contributions will bring them to Chittenango, NY, from Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 5th. OZ-Stravaganza! — the longest-running Oz festival in the world — swings happily back into action with its famous parade, diverse programming, AND the appearance (in her first visit here) of an original cast member of MGM