COMPLIMENTARY COPY TM
The Most Widely Read Collector's Newspaper In The East Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
VOL. 45, NO. 33 FRIDAY AUGUST 15, 2014
Off To See The Wizard: “The Wizard Of Oz” Turns 75 words are “Kansas,” “little dog,” and “home.”) On August 12th, the movie that never The land we’d all like to visit: “Oz,” its logo depicted in stained glass. The ornament is 4.5 inches high and 4 inches long, $40-$50. By Donald-Brian Johnson
eady for some wizardly word games? Then just fill in the blanks: “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in ____ anymore!” “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your ___ ___ , too!” “Oh Auntie Em - there’s no place like ____!” Whether you’re young or young-at-heart, I’ll bet the answers came to you right away. Those are snippets of dialogue from MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz.” (Just in case you happen to be visiting from another planet, the missing
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Here is the movie’s iconic “ruby slippers,” depicted on a cardboard place card. Estimated at under $5.
This is a Wizard of Oz souvenir sheet music folio from 1939, $30-$35.
seems to grow old will celebrate its diamond jubilee. For 75 years, Oz has entranced audiences with its optimistic promise: you may live on a dusty Kansas farm, but with just a dash of magic (and a cooperative tornado), you, too, might make it “over the rainbow.” The reasons for the appeal of Oz are many. There’s the spot-on casting (can you imagine anyone more wide-eyed than Judy Garland’s Dorothy? Wickeder than Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch?), and the Arlen & Harburg score included the instant smash ballad “Over the Rainbow.” And when it came to spectacle, there were lavish costumes, colorfully detailed sets, and eye-popping special effects (The Kansas tornado! The F l y i n g Monkeys! The melting Witch!) Then there was that underlying tug-at-yourheartstrings message: you really don’t know what you’ve got, until - suddenly - you don’t have it anymore. In other words, “There’s no place like home.” In any other year, Oz would have towered over its cinematic competitors, but this was 1939 and strong competition included the year’s powerhouse, “Gone With The Wind.” Even a boffo box office couldn’t cover the production’s expense. Only with re-releases did “The Wizard of Oz” turn a profit...and only with a move from the big screen to the little one did it achieve iconic status. Do you remember where you were on November 3, 1956? Well, at 9 p.m. across America, plenty of pajama-clad babyboomers were curled up in front of their TVs, breathlessly awaiting the first-ever TV broadcast of “The Wizard of Oz.” Ordinarily, they’d be in bed by then, but their folks had given in to CBS publicity, which implored, “Let the kids stay up to watch this brilliant musical fairy tale.” Eyes opened wide at the terrors of the
A 1939 MGM promo photo of principal performers in “The Wizard of Oz,” plus their literary inspiration. From left: Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Judy Garland (Dorothy), Frank Morgan (The Wizard), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), and Toto, too!
tornado. Giggles ensued when the Cowardly Lion growled “Put ‘em up - put ‘em up!”...and faces were hidden in pillows, when the Wicked Witch let loose with her dastardly cackle. In the days of just three major networks (and no DVDs), seeing “The Wizard of Oz” right in the comfort of your own living room was...well...simply wonderful. Oz quickly became an annual TV staple. For the generations whose first exposure to the movie was on TV, “The Wizard of Oz”
was just as exciting...just as unforgettable...as it must have been at its 1939 premiere. Original Oz memorabilia can be prohibitively pricey. For the collector, the most affordable Oz souvenirs are those produced in later years, capitalizing on the movie’s enduring pop culture appeal. Manufacturers have churned out enough of these snowglobes, plush toys, ornaments, collector plates and the like to line the Yellow Brick Road from here to the Emerald City - very (Continued on page 2)
A commemorative plate issued in 1989, celebrating the 50th anniversary of “The Wizard An “I Have A Feeling We’re Not in Kansas of Oz” from the Hamilton collection, 9.25 Anymore” figure from the Snowbabies Guest Collection, 1998. 9 inches high, $30-$50. inches in diameter, $20-$30. A magnet with image of the movie’s best-known poster, ATA-BOY, 1998, $5-$10.