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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