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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 34, August 19, 2001, Article 9 BRYAN MONEY AND THE WIZARD OF OZ The new book by Fred Schornstein devotes a one-page section to the parallels between the gold and silver issue of the 1890s and the L. Frank Baum novel of 1900, The Wizard of Oz. The novel was made into the popular film in 1939. Some of the parallels are: OZ = ounce, abbreviated oz (of gold) Yellow Brick Road = gold standard Wicked Witch of the East = eastern financial powers (the witch wears silver shoes in the book, but these were changed to ruby red for the movie) Scarecrow = western farmer Tin Man = factory worker Cowardly Lion = William Jennings Bryan Emerald Palace = The White House In his bibliography, Schornstein cites an article titled "The Wizard of Oz as A Monetary Allegory" by Hugh Rockoff in The Journal of Political Economy (Vol 98, #4, August 1990). Was Walter Breen was the first to discuss these parallels in numismatic circles? His paper, "Metallic Panaceas: Gold Bugs, Silver Crusaders, and the Wizard of Oz" was published in the Proceedings of the November 4-5, 1989 Coinage of the Americas Conference by the American Numismatic Society. Baum's book is discussed as a political allegory on pages 50-51. In turn, Breen cites an article titled "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism" by Henry M. Littlefield in American Quarterly 16 (Spring 1964), pp47-58. Breen wasn't mentioned in Schornstein's notes, but I wonder if Rockoff cites him. COAC Proceedings are (or at least were) notorious for being published long after the conference itself; it may be that Breen's paper didn't go into print until after Rockoff's 1990 article. Does anyone know if the Wizard of Oz parallels were written up in a numismatic context prior to the 1989 COAC, by Breen or anyone else? Anyone know of a reference anywhere before Littlefield's 1964 article?

Wayne Homren, Editor

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