[PEN-L:2890] Re: Surrender, Dorothy.

[Rosser Jr, John Barkley]

     BTW, I stand corrected by Max S.  Bryan was the 
Cowardly Lion.
Barkley Rosser
On Thu, 4 Feb 1999 18:10:04 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) 
"Rosser Jr, John Barkley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Louis,
>     None of this is inconsistent with Baum being a 
> populist.  Although some were socialist or quasi-socialist, 
> many were pro-small business and entrepreneurship and also 
> not necessarily friendly to American Indians, as they 
> supported westward expansion and all that.
>     The interpretation suggesed about Scarecrow = farmer, 
> Tin Woodman = industrial worker, Wizard = W.J. Bryan, etc. 
> is well known and well established with much to support 
> that it was indeed on Baum's mind.
>      And it is the case that the slippers were changed from 
> silver to ruby between the book and the most famous movie 
> version.
> Barkley Rosser
> On Thu, 04 Feb 1999 17:01:35 -0500 Louis Proyect 
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> > >From David Traxel's "1898," (A. Knopf, 1998):
> > 
> > LYMAN FRANK BAUM grew up in a wealthy New York family, but had decided
> > while still a teenager against following his father into the oil business.
> > Instead he had been drawn to the theater, and in his early twenties wrote
> > and produced his own plays, The Maid of Arran and The Queen of Killarney,
> > starring in them with his wife as they toured through the East and Midwest.
> > This was a wonderful creative experience, but less successful as a
> > money-maker. While not completely giving up the theater, he worked as a
> > traveling salesman, and then started an enterprise related to his father's:
> > Baum's Castorine Company, producing an axle grease made from crude oil.
> > 
> > In 1888, at the age of thirty-two, he opened a retail store, Baum's Bazaar.
> > in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where his wife's brother and sisters had
> > homesteaded a farm. A sudden downturn in the local economy put the Bazaar
> > into bankruptcy, but Baum, displaying the optimistic adaptability of the
> > American entrepreneur, then shifted to journalism, not only publishing the
> > Aberdeen Saturdai Pioneer, but also writing and setting in type almost even
> > word that went onto its pages, both news stories and advertising. To gain
> > all the meat from the nut of life is the essence of wisdom,' he informed
> > the readers of Aberdeen. 'therefore, eat, drink, and be merry--for tomorrow
> > you die.' This emphasis on sensual pleasures must have been somewhat
> > shocking to the conservative farmers of the region, but Baum saw himself as
> > a revolutionary force for changing Americans from pinch-penny savers to
> > consumers of the good things in life. Yes, you might "be forced to borrow a
> > few dollars" in order to afford worldly comforts, but "who will be the
> > gainer when Death calls him to the last account--the man who can say 'I
> > have lived!' or the man who can say 'I have saved'?"
> > 
> > Baum's view of the world had been formed in the wealthy surroundings of his
> > childhood, but he was also influenced by his mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn
> > Cage, who was a leading feminist and the coauthor, along with Susan B.
> > Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, of History of Woman Suffrage. Gage had
> > found the Protestantism of her own youth too resistant to women's rights,
> > and had instead turned to theosophy, a quirky blend of Eastern mysticism,
> > the paranormal, and a respect for the "objectivity" of science put together
> > by Madame Helena Blavatsky.
> > 
> > One of the New Thought or Mind Cure philosophies that had arisen to fill
> > needs brought about by Darwin's undermining of established religion,
> > theosophy taught that happiness was something to be sought in this world,
> > not postponed until Heaven. There was no Heaven, although theosophists did
> > believe that the "spirits" of dead people were present in another
> > dimension, which could only be reached through mediums and s6ances. Nor was
> > there a God as traditionally worshipped, but "There is a latent power," one
> > theosophist wrote, "a force of indestructible life, an immortal principle
> > of health, in every individual, which if developed would heal all our
> > wounds." If one developed this latent power, not only good health but money
> > enough to provide comforts and luxuries would result. There was no need to
> > defer happiness.
> > 
> > This made eminent good sense to Baum, but he had a hard time living up to
> > the model in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Continuing bad times sank the Saturday
> > Pioneer, and booming, bustling Chicago pulled him to its busy streets, just
> > as it did so many ambitious and penniless young men. He briefly worked as a
> > reporter for the Chicago Evening News, then went on the road selling
> > crockery and glassware. Salesmanship was a perfect calling for a man of his
> > optimistic nature, and he was successful enough that soon he, his wife, and
> > four children were able to afford a large house with modern conveniences
> > such as gaslight and a bathroom. But by the late 1890s he grew tired of
> > eating hotel food, traveling endless railroad miles and being away from his
> > family for long periods of time.
> > 
> > In 1897 he published Mother Goose in Prose, illustrated by Maxfield
> > Parrish, and began writing down his own stories. 'wonder tales," as he
> > called them. Another avenue, however, offered more immediate financial
> > reward while also allowing him to creatively preach his philosophy of
> > living, and consuming, in the here and now. America had some of the world's
> > largest department stores, jammed full of goods produced by the new
> > industrial order, an abundance that often seemed too much of a good thing.
> > There were challenges in profitably selling such an enormous flow of goods,
> > especially since the retail market not only suffered from labor problems
> > but also was savagely competitive. Baum was confident he could teach
> > department store owners how to move their merchandise more effectively. At
> > the end of 1897 he began publishing a trade journal promulgating his ideas,
> > The Show Window, and in February 1898 he organized the National Association
> > of Window Trimmers, whose goal was "the uplifting of mercantile decorating
> > to the level of a profession."
> > 
> > New technological advances helped him develop his concept. Domestic
> > manufacturers had improved the production of plate glass during the decade.
> > Now, instead of importing expensive sheets of glass from France, buildings
> > could be designed with larger, clearer, stronger windows at a much lower
> > price. But owners were slow to understand what this meant until Baum showed
> > them. Customarily goods had been crammed haphazardly in a storefront, but
> > Baum, drawing on his background in drama, merchandising, and writing,
> > designed window displays that enticed pedestrians to stop, study, and be
> > amused and tempted by what was being offered for sale. "It is said," he
> > wrote in his book on the subject, "that people are not as readily deceived
> > by window display, but we all know better than this." Already there was
> > criticism of the intrusive quality of advertising, the way it interfered
> > with the enjoyment of views or street scenes, and to many people this new
> > form of huckstering seemed a step in the wrong direction. But Baum argued
> > that there was "no way to protect people from imposition, even supposing
> > they desired to be protected."
> > 
> > There was some resistance at first. The older generation had been raised to
> > regard gawking at windows as vulgar. To help overcome this reluctance.
> > "window gazers" were hired to stand, stare, and draw a crowd. Baum used his
> > talent and imagination to create the most effective lures: movement,
> > electric light, and color, with revolving stars, mechanical birds and
> > butterflies. vanishing ladies, models of Ferris wheels. ~'People will
> > always stop to examine anything that moves," he explained, "and will enjoy
> > studying out the mechanics or wondering how the effect has been obtained."
> > He was not shy about stating explicitly how this sense of wonder was to be
> > used: to "arouse in the observer the cupidity and longing to possess the
> > goods." It is no surprise that during 1898 Thorstein Veblen was writing his
> > study of the power of conspicuous consumption, The Theory of the Leisure
> > Class.
> > 
> > L. Frank Baum's utopian American fairy tale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
> > being written in 1898 but not published until two years later, shared much
> > of the color, excitement, and glorification of abundance visible in his
> > store windows, as well as reflecting the author's fascination with "mind
> > cure' and theosophy
> > "Where are you?" Dorothy asks the unseen Wizard in a seance-like setting.
> > 
> > "I am everywhere," answers the Voice, "but to the eyes of common mortals I
> > am invisible. I will now seat myself upon my throne, that you may converse
> > with me."
> > 
> > In both his show windows and Oz books, Baum taught that positive thinking,
> > and consuming, were the American way to happiness. "The time has come for a
> > series of newer 'wonder tales,' "he wrote in the introduction to the
> > original edition, "in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are
> > eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents
> > devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. . . . The
> > Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written solely to please children of today It
> > aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy
> > are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." Two
> > particularly American elements in the resulting series of books were the
> > natural forces depicted--earthquakes and a Kansas cyclone--and mechanical
> > gadgets that could work magic.
> > 
> > As soon as The Wizard proved a success, Baum left the retail trade, but his
> > mark remained. Quickly "all glass fronts" became common design elements for
> > department stores, and in a little over a decade the United States was
> > using half the world's window-glass production.
> > ----
> > 
> > Baum also was an Indian-hater, as evidenced by this excerpt from one of his
> > articles written during a stint with a midwest newspaper. It was prompted
> > by Little Big Horn:
> > 
> > "The peculiar policy of the government in employing so weak and vacillating
> > a person as General Miles to look after the uneasy Indians, has resulted in
> > a terrible loss of blood to our soldiers, and a battle which, at best, is a
> > disgrace to the war department. There has been plenty of time for prompt
> > and decisive measures, the employment of which would have prevented this
> > disaster."
> > 
> > Louis Proyect
> > (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Rosser Jr, John Barkley
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 

-- 
Rosser Jr, John Barkley
[EMAIL PROTECTED]