About the Oz Club


THE STORY OF OZ

The Wizard of Oz is America's greatest fairy tale, and Oz is its best-loved fairyland. Oz has remained triumphant for over three-quarters of a century, in a long series of books; in three stage plays by L.Frank Baum; and in movies stretching back to the earliest days of silents through Metro Goldwyn Mayer's 1939 triumph, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland. The International Wizard of Oz Club is merely one sign - but a substantial one - of the incalculable influence Oz has had on the American imagination. L. Frank Baum discovered Oz in 1900, when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published. He was born in 1856 at Chittenango, New York, where his father had made a fortune out of oil. Young Frank was a stage author, manager, and actor before his marriage. Then he sold axle grease, managed a newspaper and variety store in South Dakota, and traveled for a crockery firm before he became successful as a children's author. In The Wizard of Oz, he created an American fairyland with a Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion - and a heroine, Dorothy Gale of Kansas, in whom his child readers recognized themselves. In 1904, Oz resurfaced with The Marvelous Land of Oz - a series that Baum tried to end in 1910 with the sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz, by cutting off contact between Oz and the real world. But contact was reestablished in 1913, and thereafter, a new Oz book by L. Frank Baum appeared each year through 1920. In 1903, The Wizard of Oz became the most successful Broadway play till that time; in 1910, it became a one reel silent movie; and in 1914, Baum's own Oz Film Manufacturing Company produced several feature length Oz silent movies, L. Frank Baum died in 1919 at his home in Hollywood, California. The story of Oz did not end with Baum's death. Baum's publishers contracted with Ruth Plumly Thompson to continue the series, and a new Thompson Oz book appeared every year from 1921 through 1939. Then John R. Neill, who had illustrated all the Oz books but The Wizard of Oz itself, added three books to the series. Later volumes appeared at intervals through 1963, when the fortieth Oz book was published.

THE INTERNATlONAL WIZARD OF OZ CLUB

The International Wizard of Oz Club was founded in 1957 to bring together at those interested in L. Frank Baum and Oz. During succeeding decades, the club has grown until today it has over 1300 members. Its magazine, TheBaum Bugle, first appeared in June 1957 and has been published continuously ever since. The Bugle, which is issued three times each year, specializes in popular and scholarly articles about Oz and its creators, with biographical and critical studies, and first edition checklists. Research into the people and places within the Oz books appears frequently. There are also features on Oz films and stage shows, reviews of new editions of books about Oz or its authors, and current Oz (or associated) news. The magazine is illustrated with rare photographs and drawings, and the covers are usually in full color. The Oz club also publishes Bibliographia Oziana, a book describing the first editions of the entire Oz series, with 83 photographs; new Oz books by Ruth Plumly Thompson and by Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw; full-color maps of Oz, with places from the forty books; Unexplored Territory In Oz, a collection of Ozian essays; Oziana, an annual of original Oz stories; and The Oz Trading Post, infrequently issued in print, but more currently accessible on the Club's Web Page. The club sponsors conventions in different areas of the country each year. These gatherings feature scholarly presentations (lectures, talks, and papers for reading) about different Oz subjects; displays of rare Oz and Baum material; an Oz quiz; a showing of Oz films (including three Baum produced in 1914); an auction of hard to find Baum and Oz items; and much conversation about Oz in all its aspects. Recent conventions have been held in Illinois, California, Oklahoma, and Delaware. The International Wizard of Oz Club appeals both to the serious student of Oz and to all readers interested in America's own fairyland.

International Wizard of Oz Club notes

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The International Wizard of Oz Club
PO Box 2657
Alameda, CA 94501