Other Ventures and Back to Oz
1911
- June 3 - L. Frank Baum files for bankruptcy largely due to his
debts from the Radio Plays. A September contract lists his assets as
his clothing, a worn typewriter and a reference book. More than 1,000
letters arrive from concerned children when Baum's financial
predicament becomes publicly known. Some offer to sell his books to
their friends; others promise to buy anything he writes.
- Oct. - Baum's short story, "The Tramp and The Baby," is published
in Ladies World.
- Dec. - Baum's short story, "Bessie's Fairy Tale," is published in
Ladies World.
- Dec. 26 - Baum writes a poem, "Santa Claus was Good to Me," that
he sends to the Gage family in Aberdeen, S.D.
- Baum's new children's fantasy, The Sea Fairies, is
published by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by
Neill. With this title Baum attempts to launch a new fantasy series
which he hopes will replace Oz. In its first year, 12, 401 copies are
sold and the demand for more Oz books doesn't decrease.
- Baum's novel for teenagers, The Daring Twins, is
published by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by P.W.
Batchelder.
- Baum's next novel for girls, The Flying Girl, is
published by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith
Van Dyne, with illustrations by Joseph Pierre Nuyttens.
- Baum returns to his girl's series with Aunt Jane's Nieces and
Uncle John. It is published by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using
the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne and a frontispiece by Emile A. Nelson.
- Baum's The Boy Fortune Hunters in the South Seas is
published by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Floyd
Akers.
- Baum's The Twinkle Tales is reissued as a single volume
called Twinkle and Chubbins. The book is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Laura Bancroft. Wright's
illustrations are retained.
- Baum's Policeman Bluejay reissued as Babes in Birdland
by publisher Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Laura
Bancroft. A 1917 reprint will be the first version to credit Baum as
the author.
- In The Christmas Stocking series (1905-1906), The
Story of Peter Rabbit, with illustrations by John R. Neill,
replaces Animal A.B.C. - A Child's Visit to the Zoo.
- Baum buys a new car - a Hudson.
- Frances (Doolittle) Denslow, W.W. Denslow's third wife, files for
divorce charging him with "desertion due to drunkenness." He makes no
defense and the divorce is granted. She eventually marries a man with
the last name of Foster.
- Denslow mortgages his private island to his friend songwriter
Paul Tietjens.
1912
- Dec. - Baum's short story, "Aunt Phroney's Boy," appears in St.
Nicholas. This is a re-written version of his earlier story, "Aunt
Hulda's Good Time."
- Baum's Sky Island, is published by Reilly & Britton,
Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. This sequel to The
Sea Fairies does not satisfy the young readers who demand more Oz
books.
- Baum's sequel to The Daring Twins, Phoebe Daring; A
Story of Young Folks, is published by Reilly & Britton,
Chicago, with illustrations by Joseph Pierre Nuyttens.
- Baum's The Flying Girl and Her Chum is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, is a sequel to The Flying Girl with
illustrations by Joseph Pierre Nuyttens. A third title, The Flying
Girl's Brave Adventure, is proposed but never pursued due to poor
sales of the series.
- Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with a frontispiece by Emile A. Nelson.
In it, Baum satirizes an incident from his Aberdeen days when he was
challenged to a dual over a typesetting error. Sales of the Aunt
Jane's Nieces series is uniformly profitable.
- L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker reissued by Reilly &
Britton, Chicago, with the title Baum's Own Book for Children.
1913
- Mar. 31 - The Tik-Tok Man of Oz stage play opens at the
Majestic Theater in Los Angeles. This is the produced version of an
earlier Baum play, Ozma of Oz (1909). Its musical numbers
generate a popular series of song sheets published by Jerome H. Remick
& Co., New York/Detroit, and by John Franklin Music Co., New York.
Piano rolls and a record of one song, "Ask the Flowers to Tell You"
(released by Victor), also become available.
The cast includes: James Morton, Tik-Tok; Lenora Novasio, Betsy; Fred
Woodward, Hank the Mule; Frank Moore, Shaggy Man; Josie Intropedi,
Queen Ann Soforth; Vera Doria, Ozma; Dolly Castles, Polychrome; and
Charles Ruggles (1884-12/23/70), Private Files.
Producer Oliver Morosco (known for Peg O' My Heart and, later, Abie's
Irish Rose) closes the show during the summer while it is still
profitable. Music is written by Louis F. Gottschalk. A book of song
selections and 14 pieces of sheet music are published by Jerome H.
Remick & Co.
- April 1 - The Los Angeles Times favorable review of The
Tik-Tok Man of Oz writes that "It is seldom that a musical comedy
is presented with eight changes of scenery of beautiful effects and of
such great complexity."
- June 25 -The Patchwork Girl of Oz is granted copyright;
Baum has returned to writing Oz books.
- July 1 - Baum's The Patchwork Girl of Oz is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. It
is promoted with character cut-outs of the Patchwork Girl and a
dog-like creature called the Woozy.
- Nov. 16 - Patchwork Girl of Oz musical scenario featuring
music by Louis Gottschalk is prepared, although it is never published
or produced.
- Nov. 11 - Frank Reilly writes Baum asking that he omit a chapter
titled "the Garden of Meats" from his current Oz manuscript, The
Patchwork Girl of Oz. He considers the chapter frightening and
inconsistent with the Oz seris, but adds that the book is one of Baum's
best efforts.
- Frank Reilly becomes president of Reilly & Britton. William
F. Lee, a bible salesman from the A.J. Holman Co., joins the firm.
- Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces on the Ranch is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. The
frontispiece is by an anonymous artist.
- Baum's The Little Wizard Stories are published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, as six small books with illustrations by John
R. Neill. The titles are: Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse; Ozma
and the Little Wizard; The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; The
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman; Tiktok and the Nome King. (In this
instance, Ticktok is spelled as one word).
- Denslow moves to New York and struggles to support himself. He
does some work for the Rosenbaum Studios and, with engraver Alcan Moss,
forms the Denslow Company on Fifth Avenue. Unsuccessful and drinking
heavily, he pawns possessions, including his rare book collection.
- Illustrator W.W. Denslow's only son, W.W. Denslow III, dies at
age 30 leaving a wife, Annalia Delemmo and daughter Anna Maria (later
the wife of Dr. Charles Sesso).
1914
- Jan. 9 - A new Baum grandson, Frank Alden Baum is born to Frank
Joslyn and Helen Louise (Snow) Baum in Los Angeles.
- Feb. 14 - Baum's son, Robert Stanton, marries Edna Ducker. The
two have been friends since meeting in Macatawa in 1901.
- The Oz Film Manufacturing Company is formed in Los Angeles. Baum
is president and Louis F. Gottschalk is vice president. The venture is
supported by Will Rogers, George Arliss, Hal Roach, Harold Lloyd and
Darryl Zanuck. They establish a studio on a 7-acre lot opposite The
Universal Film Company. Frank Baum Jr. serves for a time as general
manager. Others include Clarence H. Rundel, secretary, Harry F.
Haldenan, treasurer, James A. Crosby, camera man, and J. Farrell
MacDonald, film director.
- May 19 - Denslow rewrites his will leaving his estate to a
friend, Dorothy Federlein, in Buffalo, N.Y.
- June 19 - Baum's Tik-Tok of Oz is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. The story
is based on his 1913 musical.
- June 23 - Baum's son Kenneth Gage Baum marries Dorothy Hilda Duce
at Ozcot, the family's California home.
- July - The Oz Film Manufacturing Company begins filming its first
production, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, using elements of a
proposed Patchwork Girl of Oz musical (1913) that was never
produced. The film is noted for special effects such as a scene using
stop-action animation in which the pieces of the Patchwork Girl appear
to assemble themselves. Pierre Coudrec, a 17-year-old French acrobat,
plays the title role. Fred Woodward is a mule and the Woozy. Hal Roach
and Charles Ruggles have minor roles. J. Farrell MacDonald directs.
- July 24 - Baum's The Little Wizard Stories are published
by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, in a single volume with their
original illustrations by John R. Neill.
- Aug. 6 - The Oz Film Manufacturing Company shows their 5-reel
feature film version of The Patchwork Girl of Oz at the Los
Angeles Athletic Club.
- Aug. 14 - The Motion Pictures Patents Co. files suit against five
small film production companies, including Oz. They allege that no one
but the patent holder can use Edison's patented equipment. The suit is
settled out of court.
- Aug. 30 - Ruth Plumly Thompson begins writing the children's page
for the Philadelphia Public Ledger. She receives 500 letters
from children in response to the new page. She will continue to write
it until April 25, 1921.
- Sept. 28 - Paramount distributes The Oz Film Manufacturing
Company's production of The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
- Oct. 5 - The Oz Film Manufacturing Company premieres its next
feature film, His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz. The show is
attended by 3,500 people. The 5-real film has a cast of 130 and cost
$23,500 to produce. Materials designed to promote the Oz films include
posters, heralds, slides and still photos. The Motion Picture News of
Oct. 24 also reports small Woozy toys.
The cast is: Violet MacMillan, Dorothy; Frank Moore, Scarecrow; Pierre
Coudrec, Tin Woodman; Fred Woodward, Cowardly Lion and other animals;
Raymond Russell, King Krewel; Arthur Smollet, Googly-Goo; J. Charles
Hayden, the Wizard of Oz; Todd Wright, Pon; Vivian Reed, Princess
Gloria; Mai Wells, Mombi; and Mildred Harris, Button Bright. J. Farrell
MacDonald directs.
Vivian Reed also appears as Ozma in the company's credits. Mildred
Harris is the same actress who later marries Charlie Chaplin.
- Oct. 5 - Baum copyrights the description and 328 prints from the
film version of The Patchwork Girl of Oz under his own name.
- Dec. 7 - The Oz Film Manufacturing Company's new feature, The
Last Egyptian, is released by the Alliance Film Company. The story
is based on the anonymously written Baum novel of the same name (1908).
It stars J. Farrell MacDonald as Kara and Vivian Reed as Aneth
Consinor.
- The Los Angeles Athletic Club holds a "big 49ers outing,"
featuring a production of "Somewhere by the Sea" in which Baum plays a
gambler. He also writes lyrics for songs to be sung by the "Whooping
Cough Quartet." Circa 1914.
- The Oz Film Manufacturing Company completes production of its
final 5-reel feature, The Magic Cloak. The story is based on
Baum's Queen Zixi of Ix (1905). Violett MacMillan is King Bud
of Noland and Mildred Harris has the role of Princess Fluff. Other
characters are played by Vivian Reed (Quavo the minstrel) and Fred
Woodward (Nickodemus the Mule). Soon, the company sells the studio to
The Universal Film Company.
- Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. The
frontispiece is provided by James McCracken. The plot describes the
rise of the motion picture industry.
- The Uplifters forms; Baum was an Excelsior (member of the board
of governors) of this men's organization in California. He makes up
similar titles for the other officers including Grand Muscle
(president) and Elevator (vice president). Will Rogers and George
Arliss are members.
1915
- Jan. 14 - Baum writes the book and lyrics for the first Uplifters
outing. Stagecraft, the Adventures of a Strictly Moral Man is
performed in Santa Barbara, Calif. Music is written by Louis F.
Gottschalk.
- Feb. 13 - The Alliance Film Corporation releases His Majesty,
The Scarecrow of Oz using the title The New Wizard of Oz.
Moving Picture World advertises the new Oz film on this date.
- Denslow illustrates a full-color cover for Life magazine
and sells three illustrations to a children's magazine, John
Martin's Book.
- Mar. 29 - William Wallace Denslow dies in the Knickerbocker
Hospital in New York City. He had developed pneumonia after drinking
for two days - his celebration of a $250 check from Life
magazine. Denslow is buried in an unmarked grave in Kensico Cemetery
Valhalla, N.Y.
- April 1 - The Oz Film Manufacturing Company reopens with the name
Dramatic Features Co., under the management of Frank Jr. They produce The
Gray Nun of Belgium, a film written by Baum about the war in
Europe. Catherine Countiss has the title role and Betty Pierce is
Mother Superior. Francis Powers directs.
- During editing of The Gray Nun of Belgium, a one-
reeler, Pies and Poetry is filmed.
- June 10 - The Oz-Toy Book is published by Reilly &
Britton, Chicago. Without Baum's knowledge, it promotes Oz with Neill
illustrations to cut out.
- July 15 - Life magazine publishes the cover illustration
Denslow completed just prior to his death.
- July 16 - The Scarecrow of Oz is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. Baum's
introduction mentions that Oz Reading Societies are popular with
children. Promotion material for the book includes distribution of
Scarecrow cut-outs and buttons.
- Aug. 10 - In a letter to his editor Baum describes a book he is
writing, Father Goose's Party, as "practically complete." It is
never published and no manuscript survives.
- Sept. 10 - The Oz Film Co.'s short subject, The Country
Circus, is released by Universal. The story is based on one of
Baum's American Fairy Tales.
- Sept. 29 - Baum's new grandson, Robert Allison Baum, is born to
Robert Stanton and Edna Drucker Baum in Joliet, Ill.
- Oct. 22 - The Oz Film Co.'s short subject The Magic Bon-
Bons is released by Universal. The story is based on one of Baum's American
Fairy Tales. Like its predecessor, The Country Circus, this
film was released under the umbrella title Violet's Dreams.
Four of the one-reel films were shot; only two were released while the
Oz Film Manufacturing Company was in business.
- Oct. 23 - Baum's play, The Uplift of Lucifer, or Raising Hell,
is featured at the second Uplifters outing in Santa Barbara, Calif. The
book and lyrics are written by Baum with music by Louis F. Gottschalk.
Dave Hartford stages the production.
- Dec. 10 - Eloise Jarvis McGraw born in Houston, Texas. As an
author, she will co-write Merry Go Round in Oz (1963) with her
daughter Lynn McGraw Wagner.
- Elsie G. Barrows is granted a divorce from John R. Neill.
- Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross is published
by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne.
The frontispiece is by Norman P. Hall.
- The Oz Film Company's feature The Magic Cloak is released
in Great Britain as two separate films, each being two reels long. They
are titled The Witch Queen and The Magic Cloak.
- An article by Baum urges Hollywood residents to support local
merchants. Titled "Our Hollywood" it survives only as an unidentified
clipping from this period
1916
- Maud's niece, Matilda Gage, spends a year with the Baum family.
Maud's other nieces, Leslie Gage, and Magdalena Carpenter, also are
close to the family, but Matilda is a favorite.
- June 4 - Baum's first granddaughter, Frances Ozma Baum, is born
to Kenneth Gage and Dorothy (Duce) Baum in Hollywood, Calif.
- June 20 - Baum's Rinkitink in Oz is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. Originally
a non-Oz story, Oz characters are added to the ending to allow the
book's inclusion in the popular series.
- Dec. - Baum begins and possibly completes the book and lyrics for
Snow White, a musical comedy that is never produced. The
sets were to be designed by Maxfield Parrish.
- Sumner S. Britton sells his interest in Reilly & Britton to
William F. Lee.
- Four volumes of Baum's short stories are published individually
as The Snuggle Tales by Reilly & Britton, Chicago. They are
Once Upon a Time, The Magic Cloak, The Yellow Hen and Little
Bun Rabbit. All have illustrations by Neill or Maginel Wright
Enright and covers by Julia Dyar Hardy. These short stories are
excerpts from Baum's Juvenile Speaker (1910) and other longer
fantasies.
- Baum's success with girls' books prompts a new series he names
after his sister. The first title, Mary Louise, is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. A
frontispiece is provided by J. Allen St. John, well known for his
illustrations in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Baum's Mary Louise in the Country is published by Reilly
& Britton, Chicago, using the name Edith Van Dyne. J. Allen St.
John again provides the frontispiece.
- Baum writes another play, The Uplifters' Minstrels, for
the third annual Uplifters outing at Del Mar, Calif. The music is
written by Byron Gray.
- Baum's Babes in Birdland (1911) reprinted by Reilly and
Britton, Chicago, with an introduction by Baum and Baum's own name
replacing the pseudonym Laura Bancroft. Maginel Wright Enright's
illustrations are retained.
- Neill meets actress Margaret Carroll in New York.
- Baum writes a new short story, "The Littlest Giant," though is
not published until 1975.
1917
- April 20 - Dave Montgomery the Tin Woodman from The Wizard of
Oz Broadway show (1902), dies in Chicago. His partner Fred Stone
accompanies the body to New York for burial in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Obituaries report that he leaves a wife.
- June 5 - Baum's The Lost Princess of Oz is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. He
dedicates the book to his one-year-old granddaughter, Ozma.
- Aug. 6 - Like Babes in the Woods, a film originally shot
by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company with Violet's Dreams, is
released by Universal. This film joins two previously released shorts
from 1915, The Country Circus and The Magic Bon Bons.
- Jack Pumpkinhead and The Gingerbread Man are added
to Baum's four-volume The Snuggle Tales (1916). Both are
published by Reilly and
Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill.
- Baum reportedly is "taken ill" in the fall.
- The Oz Film Manufacturing Company's 5-reel feature, The Magic
Cloak of Oz (1914), is released by the National Film Corporation.
The story is Baum's Queen Zixi of Ix (1904).
- Baum's Mary Louise Solves a Mystery is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. A
frontispiece is provided by Anna B. Mueller. Harry Neal Baum, Frank's
son, may have written at least part of this book.
- Baum writes the book and lyrics to The Orpheus Road Show
for the Uplifters fourth outing at Coronado Beach. Louis F. Gottschalk
writes the music.
1918
- Feb. - Baum has an operation on his gall bladder and his appendix
is removed. He returns home after 5 weeks in the hospital with a nurse
to assist him. His life-long heart problem gets worse and he is
stricken with tic douloureux, an excruciatingly painful condition that
effects his face frequently and without warning.
- May 13 - Baum's The Tin Woodman of Oz is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. Publishers
Weekly writes, "There is one country where no shadow has been cast
by the war; it is the Land of Oz."
- July 5 - Baum's poem, "Mister Doodle," is printed in a newspaper
although surviving clippings from the period offer no additional
identification.
- Robert Baum is serving an officer with the Engineer Corps and
Frank Baum Jr. is an officer of Heavy Artillery in France.
- Sept. 2 - Baum's letter to Frank Jr. reads,
"My dear son, Your last letter from 'somewhere in France' was very
welcome, for it let us know you were still in good health. Your
descriptive account of recent army activities is fascinating and vital
- and gives an extremely vivid picture of what goes on around you. In
descriptive writing you do a job far superior to anything I have ever
done or am capable of doing.
"We were sorry to learn of your great disappointment in certain phases
of your military assignment. But do not be too down-
hearted, my boy, for I have lived long enough to learn that in life
nothing adverse lasts very long. And it is true, that as the years
pass, and we look back on something which, at the time, seemed
unbelievingly discouraging and unfair, we come to realize that, after
all, God was at all times on our side. The eventual outcome was, we
discover, by far the best solution for us, and what then we thought
should have been to our best advantage, would in reality have been
quite detrimental.
"Continue to be self-confident, honest and faithful I performing your
assigned duties to the best of your knowledge and ability as you have
always been. Be loyal to your superior officers and ever vigilant of
the lives and welfare of your soldiers. Through such actions God will
be on your side, and as you put your reliance on Him and trust in His
guidance, you can not fail to have a happy, complete and worthwhile
life.
"I have lately been much improved in health and trust that before many
weeks the doctors will allow me to leave my bed and at least move about
the house. We all send you much love and I continually pray for a
speedy end to this terrible war and your safe return to our beloved
country. Your loving and devoted, Dad."
- Sept. 10 - Ruth Plumly Thompson's The Perhappsy Chaps is
published by P.F. Volland Co., Chicago, with illustrations by Arthur
Henderson, the staff artist who illustrates her children's page for the
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
- Sept. 22 - Dirk Gringhuis is born in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Following his professional training at the American Academy of Art in
Chicago, he will illustrate The Hidden Valley of Oz (1951).
- Nov. l. - Publisher Frank K. Reilly writes Baum that in reading
the manuscript of The Magic of Oz, he objected that, in Chapter
9, Baum had left the Kalidah staked out on the riverbank, an
inappropriate detail for a children's book. Baum responds to Reilly,
"Leaving the Kalidah 'staked out' was an oversight on my part, and I'm
glad you caught it. In a day or two, you'll get a paragraph or so
fixing up the matter to the satisfaction of the youngsters."
- Dec. 5 - William Niles Baum is born to Harry Neal and Mary
(Niles) Baum in Madison, Wisc. The baby lives just one day.
- Baum' Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls is published by
Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. A
frontispiece is provided by Alice Carsey. In includes references to the
prejudice shown towards German immigrants.
- Baum's Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross (1915) re-
printed by Reilly & Britton, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith Van
Dyne. The original frontispiece is by Norman P. Hall. Changes in events
of the war in Europe prompt Baum to add four new chapters to the end of
the book. Originally, one of the girls is injured and they return home
after three months. In the revised story, a cameraman is injured and
the nieces stay overseas to help with war relief.
- Ruth Plumly Thompson launches The Santa Claus Club in
Philadelphia to provide Christmas toys for needy children. The Club is
a tremendous success and serves 15,000 children in the years ahead. In
fact, the local post office begins to deliver all its Santa Claus mail
to Thompson's home.
1919
- Jan. 11 - Publishers Reilly & Britton becomes Reilly &
Lee.
- May 5 - Baum suffers a stroke.
- May 6 - Lyman Frank Baum dies at home in Hollywood. He is buried
in Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, Calif. His last words, "Now we can
cross the shifting sands," refer to the barrier that separates this
world from the land of Oz. During his lifetime he had written 73 books
- 36 using pseudonyms, 14 about Oz. His New York Times obituary
reads, "Though the children cannot clamor for the newest Oz books, the
crowding generations will plead for the old ones." And Publishers
Weekly writes, "Frank Baum lives immortal as long as childhood
lasts."
- "It is all so sad," writes Maud Baum in a letter to her sister,
"and I am so forlorn and alone. For nearly thirty-seven years we had
been everything to each other, we were happy, and now I am alone, to
face the world alone."
- June 7 - Baum's The Magic of Oz is published posthumously
by Reilly & Lee, Chicago, with illustrations by John R. Neill. Baum
had written the manuscript in the garden at Ozcot.
- Aug. 22 - Frances Eugenia "Jean" Starkel is born in St. Louis,
Mo. In 1991, she and her daughter Angelica will have their Baum
biography, L. Frank Baum: Royal Historian of Oz, published.
- Sept. 4 - Evelyn Copelman is born. In 1944, she will illustrate
the first unabridged English-language edition of The Wizard of Oz
to replace the edition with W.W. Denslow's original illustrations.
- 12-year-old Jack Snow writes Reilly & Lee suggesting that he
continue the Oz series. He also begins "collecting" Oz books -
a term previously unused in relationship to the children's series.
- Michael J. Lyons of Philadelphia, Pa., renews the copyrights of
The Oz Manufacturing Company's film version of The Patchwork Girl
of Oz as The Ragged Girl of Oz. The film is not known to
have ever been released with this name.
- Baum's Mary Louise Adopts a Soldier is published
posthumously by Reilly & Lee, Chicago, using the pseudonym Edith
Van Dyne. A frontispiece is provided by Joseph W. Wyckoff. Records from
this period indicate that Baum earned about $2,000 per year on his Aunt
Jane's Nieces and Mary Louise titles.
- Author Emma Speed Sampson is asked by Reilly & Lee to add
three more Mary Louise titles to the Baum series as Edith Van
Dyne. They are Mary Louise at Dorfield (1920), Mary Louise
Stands the Test (1921) and Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman
(1922). She also will write Josie O'Gorman (1923) and Josie
O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major (1924) using the Baum pen
name.
- Neill and Margaret Carroll marry in New York. They have three
daughters, Natalie, Annrea, and Joan. Neill already had
illustrated Margaret into an Oz book; she is seated at the table in the
end papers of The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918). Her initials are
clearly embroidered on her gown.
- "The Wonderful Stories of Oz" serializes the Oz books in
newspaper installments.
© Copyright The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc.
Page design copyright 1996, 1997 The Cuttenclips, Houston, Texas
First Draft © Copyright Nate Barlow 1994
Revised/expanded - June 10, 1995, to include contributions from Bill
Stillman.
Revised - June 25, 1995, to include contributions from John Fricke,
Steve Teller.
Edited for style - July 8, 1995, Jane Albright.
Further Revised - July 24, 1995, to include contributions from Peter
Schulenburg.
Further revised - August 21, 1995, to include contributions from
Willard Carroll.
Further revised - Sept. 5, 1995, to include
contributions/corrections by Eric Shanower.
Further revised - Sept. 11, 1995 to correct and include information
gathered so far using my own reference collection and cross-referencing
an extensive chronology contributed by Angelica Shirley Carpenter.
Sept. 25-30, 1995 - New material from Carpenter's list included.
Oct. 1-4, 1995 - Copyedited, Patty Tobias
Oct.16. - Dec. 13, 1995 - Incorporated additional info. from Baum
Bugles and material provided by Peter Schulenburg.
April/May 1996 - More edits. Input from Doug Greene, Mike Gessel,
Ozma Baum Mantele, Baum family history records and wills.
July 4, 1996 - Copyedits and corrections noted during 1996
Ozmopolitan convention. Also material gleaned from Our Landlady
(Koupal).
Note: edits from Feb-June, 1997 lost due to disk corruption.
Sept. 24, 1997 - Additional info from recent publications
including Brandywine's Denslow exhibit catalog, Cox's expanded MGM
Munchkin book, Bugles and primary research.
Oct. 28, 2007 - Additional information for 1997, to include
contributions from Scott Cummings
Oct. 28, 2007 - All information for years 1998-2007 courteously
provided by Scott. Cummings