Map of Oz Monday - The Fairylogue Map

Today we begin a new blog series on mapping the Land of Oz. I hope to be be able to cover most of the known Oz maps in the coming weeks, but there are an awful lot of them. The photo above (from a display at an Oz convention in the early 1980s) shows only a few. I hope, too, that there will be a lot of discussion about all this in the comments section of each blog post. Who knows, all this analysis and exploration of Ozian geography might just result in a couple new maps! Shall we set off on our journey? I'm ready - my only advice is to leave your compass at home - they seem to be unreliable in the Land of Oz!

The earliest known map of Oz was created for L. Frank Baum's 1908 touring lecture series The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays. This map was created as a magic-lantern slide and projected on a large screen while L. Frank Baum introduced his audience to his fairyland.

The earliest Map of the Land of Oz - circa 1908

Below is a portion of L. Frank Baum's original Fairylogue script describing this earliest map of the Land of Oz to his 1908 audience:

"I will now show you a map of Oz, so you will understand my story better. You see, the Land of Oz is divided into four parts, that at the North being the Country of the Gillikins, the East the Country of the Munchkins; the South the Country of the Quadlings, and the West the Country of the Winkies. It was in the Munchkin Country, where you see the black cross [sic, actually a star], that the cyclone dropped Dorothy's house.

"Right in the center of these four countries, where their corners come together, is the beautiful Emerald City of Oz, which was just then ruled by a Wonderful Wizard; and all around this favored land, which is rich in fields of waving grain and pretty dwelling houses, and rich in the splendor of the magnificent Emerald City - a city built of gold and silver and set with thousands of precious jewels - all around the Land of Oz is a dreadful desert of deadly sands, which no mortal has the strength or the power to cross on foot. So the Oz people live all by themselves, and Dorothy was almost the first person from the big outside world who had ever come to this beautiful country. . . . So Dorothy took her basket, and followed by her little dog Toto began the journey to the Emerald City, following a road of yellow brick that led directly there."

Sadly there is not much detail on this map and most of the detail shown relates directly to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We see the star showing where Dorothy's house landed in the Munchkin Country and the yellow brick road leading from it through a wooded area, crossing a large river and going into an even larger wooded area - or is that the Poppy Field? This doesn't follow the text of Wizard particularly closely - but then again this slide was not on screen for more than a minute or two.

Interestingly, when I scanned this map and started cleaning it up I realized there were faint images showing additional detail that has faded or worn off the glass slide over the years. There has always been lettering indicating a lake in the Winkie Country and in this enhanced scan we can see the faint outline of at least part of the very large lake. There is also another star which almost certainly indicated the castle of the Wicked Witch and future home of the Tin Woodman. No detail is shown in the Gillikin Country. I am fairly certain that the area in the upper right corner that looks like it might delineate a border of some sort, is in fact just a fingerprint on the original slide - though above the name of the country there does appear to be some dark residue that could be mountains or woods. The Quadling Country has more detail, though it's very hard to tell what it actually is. Is it a forest for the Fighting trees? The Spider's forest? Hills for the Hammerheads? All of the above? We do, however, get a nice little image of the palace of Glinda the Good. In the lower left corner is an area marked off for a legend or label of some sort. A few faint fragments of lettering are just barely visible, but it seems impossible to tell what it originally said.

Palace of Glinda the Good

The most unusual thing about this earliest map of the Land of Oz is that it is essentially square. Perhaps it owes its shape to the aspect ratio of magic-lantern slides? But then again, Baum's basic description of Oz works better as a square where all four countries are essentially equal in size, everything symmetrical in both directions. In the map we discuss next week Oz will have become the "great oblong fairyland" most of us are used to. No doubt the shape of Oz book endpapers contributed a great deal to stretching Oz into the more traditional rectangular shape.

It should be noted that there is no compass on this map and that the Winkies are on the left-hand side and the Munchkins are on the right-hand side. In the Fairylogue text Baum also clearly describes the Winkies as being west and the Munchkins as east, as he consistently does throughout his Oz books.

Another version of this map was published in the quite hard-to-find Wonderful Wizard of Oz Cook Book by Monica Bayley (Macmillan, 1981).

The map is even less detailed than the original, but I always liked that Bayley used the old Fairylogue map. The map is nicely reproduced and it does add a compass using the traditional directions. On a side-note, this little volume is really lovely and beautifully designed. It seems to have fallen off the radar of many Oz collectors. If you don't have one, keep your eyes out for a copy.

I can't close this blog without mentioning the sad history of the original Fairylogue slides. All of Baum's slides had survived and in the late 1970s belonged to Justin G. Schiller. Most of you know that he sold off his wonderful Oz collection in 1977. He sold the Fairylogue slides, too. They were purchased by an anonymous bidder and no one knows where they are anymore. No one has for over thirty-five years. Three of them were printed in full color on the back of Schiller's auction catalog - one of which was this slide showing the map. Justin had wisely made a set of Kodachrome slides as a back-up, which he gave to Dick Martin. These were shown in the early 1980s at each of the three major Oz conventions and then returned to Dick. However, when Dick Martin died, the slides could not be found, so now there is nothing. If the person who bought the original slides should happen to come across this blog, please do contact me and let us know the original slides still survive. They were an important piece of Oz history and it's pretty tragic that someone let them slip through the cracks.

OK, enough of that! Next week we'll look at the most important and influential pair of Oz maps from the endpapers of Tik-Tok of Oz.  (Click here for the next Oz Map blog post.)

Poor Lambert!

Today's blog stars Lambert from Eloise Jarvis McGraw's The Forbidden Fountain of Oz. I have two things to say: First, I thought I'd share the little-known fact that in the early drafts of the Forbidden Fountain manuscript Lambert was actually named Billabong! I also decided to share Eloise's own recipe for Lemon-Lamb Ragout. It sounds very tasty! Poor Lambert ...

Lemon-Lamb Ragout

By Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Serves four generously. For a party of six, use 1-1/2 times these amounts. For eight, double. If making half recipe, only cut sauce by 1/4. This recipe may be made using veal or chicken instead of lamb, but I think lamb is best of all.


3 lbs. boneless lamb, in 1-1/2 inch cubes (This requires about a 5 lb. leg of lamb. Lamb shoulder may be used but involves much more waste.)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. oil
2 slices of bacon, diced
1/2 tsp. marjoram (dried)
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
(Thickening Mixture) 3 Tbsp. flour mixed with 1/2 cup cold water
1 can (13 oz.) chicken broth, regular strength
1/4 cup dry Vermouth
1 bay leaf
a clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
6 quarter-inch slices of lemon
1 package frozen or 1 can of artichoke hearts
1/2 cup cream (optional)
6 additional very thin slices of lemon for garnish
Fresh dill or dried dillweed for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Trim fat from lamb, dry it thoroughly in paper towels. In a lidded flameproof casserole, about 4-5 quart capacity, melt butter, add oil, slowly brown bacon. Add lamb a few pieces at a time, removing them (and bacon) as they get brown enough, until all are pale brown. Return all lamb and bacon to casserole. Sprinkle with the marjoram, cayenne, and salt, stir, and let cook on low heat about five minutes; meanwhile, heat in a saucepan the chicken broth with thickening mixture stirred in, adding Vermouth when sauce has thickened slightly. Stir sauce into meat (all returned to casserole by this time, of course), add the bay leaf, garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Lay the lemon slices on top. Bring casserole to a boil, then cover and place in lower third of the preheated oven. Reduce temperature of oven if necessary to keep meat at a bare simmer. Cook 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until meat is fork tender. Tip casserole and skim off all fat. Discard lemon slices and bay leaf (if you can find it).  

Up to this point the recipe may be made up to a day ahead, simply allow the ragout to cool, cover tightly with foil and refrigerate. To reheat, bring to room temperature and place in 325 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until stew is just bubbling.

To finish heated stew: Add 1 package of frozen artichoke hearts, cooked and warm, or 1 can artichoke heart, drained, rinsed, and warm (at least room temperature). Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional). I often use half-and-half and it's just as good.

Transfer the ragout to a warmed oven-proof dish suitable for the table - about 9" x 12" with shallow sides to contain the sauce.

Garnishes: Put 6 very thin lemon slices in a row on the stew; sprinkle all liberally with 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp. dried dillweed (or more). Serve with rice or noodles.

A green salad and a good French bread are all you need otherwise, and a really good red wine such as Italian Barolo or Chianti Classico. This meal turns out satisfying but light, and dessert-lovers may spread themselves (no pun intended) on a fruity tart or pie, or maybe cheesecake.

—Eloise Jarvis McGraw

I am Tik-Tok. I am De-lic-i-ous!

This last week I wanted to make a surprise birthday cake for a friend named Freddy. There was little doubt what the theme would be - Freddy is an avid Return to Oz fan who adores a certain Tik-Tok. So the subject matter wasn't what was troubling me. It was how to do it! These things must be done delicately!

I had already decided on a fairly fancy dinner of Beef Wellington, so I wanted a special dessert. I remembered a cake developed by Julia Child called le bombe aux trois chocolats. When I thought of that cake, which is molded in a round mixing bowl, I knew what had to be done. It would become Tik-Tok's face. Here he is!

As I mentioned, Julia Child's recipe bombe au trois chocolates is a molded cake. The outer layer is brownie-like, carefully fitted into the bowl, and filled with a very dark, rich chocolate mousse. Then melted chocolate is poured over the whole thing. Those are the three chocolates (trois chocolats) in the name of the recipe.

My first step was to select a bowl the size I wanted the finished cake to be. Then I made a paper pattern to be used to cut out the assorted shapes of cake needed to line the bowl. I cut a small circle for the bottom of the bowl and a large one for the top. I then divided the side of the bowl into eight wedge-shaped pieces. I spent a lot of time on the side-pieces. You could do it much sloppier and it would probably work fine. But I have a perfectionist streak.

Next I made the mousse (shown at left). After folding in the egg whites it looks a lot like ice cream! There was almost a pound of chocolate in the mousse. I used Trader Joe's 72% Dark Belgian Chocolate, supplemented with a couple squares of unsweetened chocolate. This mousse also contains a pack of gelatin to give it a bit more body to keep it stiff.

Next up was making the sheet of Brownie Fudge Cake. After it cooled about ten minutes I removed it from the pan and flipped it over. It was baked with a layer of wax paper under it to facilitate the flipping.

I then laid out the paper pattern pieces on the cake and carefully cut them out. I made a small circle for the bottom of the bowl, a big circle for the top, and eight angled side-pieces. Note how each edge of the angled pieces is slightly curved to make a good fit!

Here are all the cake pieces cut out. I then lined the molding bowl with plastic wrap for easy unmolding and arranged the pieces in the bowl pretty-side out. I found that despite my careful patterning of the eight sides I still had a half-inch gap to fill. So I simply cut a little wedge out of the cake scraps to fill the gap and made a mental note to hide the patch under the chocolate drizzle.

Here I began filling the cake-lined bowl with the chilled mousse. For a bit of additional support I added a layer of cake scraps when the bowl was half filled with mousse.

When the bowl was almost full, I topped it all with the big circle of cake, pulled plastic wrap over the whole thing, and refrigerated it overnight, still in the bowl, with a weighted saucer on top.

Now to turn the cake into the Return to Oz Tik-Tok. I looked at photos and decided what details to use and whether anything could be done with preexisting materials. I knew I'd have to make/mold several parts, but the mustache seemed like it would be difficult to make from scratch.

I recalled that Godiva made some chocolate shells that I thought might work for the mustache. But they were made of milk chocolate and that dictated that his head be drizzled in milk, rather than dark, chocolate. So be it! I then thought, "Gosh, Tik-Tok's nose looks an awful lot like a Rolo!" So that's what I used. His eye sockets and ears were created by pouring the melted chocolate on wax paper until it was about an 1/8" thick. I used some circular cookie cutters to cut the shapes while the chocolate was still a bit soft. The inner cut-outs from the eyes became Tik-Tok's ears. The trickiest part was making his hat. In the photo above you can see I've positioned a piece of paper to get the curve around the head correct. I then drew another curve to create the outer brim which gave me a pattern. I cut the hat shape out of a piece of thin foam core and used the resulting hole as a mold. I taped the foam mold to the countertop over some wax paper, poured in melted chocolate, and scraped off the excess. When it was cool I popped the chocolate hat brim out of the foam core. Voila!

Here is the cake soon after I poured on the melted chocolate and began positioning the facial elements. I made rivets for the hat by using an exacto-knife to saw the points off chocolate chips. I made six facial rivets the same way. I attached the rivets by using melted chocolate for glue. Once all the chocolate work was done I chilled him to firm everything up.

The last step was the eyes. I squirted blue glitter cake gel and green cake gel into his eye sockets, mixed them a bit, and smoothed the mixture with a spatula. Then with my (incredibly clean) finger dipped in water I smoothed it out more. And then Tik Tok was ready. He was a big hit at the birthday dinner. He was very tasty, too!

Ozzy Mug Shot

One of the perks of writing this blog is that on occasion folks send me nice things. These two mugs arrived in the mail recently. They're very handsome. The artwork wraps nearly the entire mug, and each mug comes with a cork-bottomed yellow brick road coaster.

The artwork is by Don Peters who has exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the National Pastel Society of New York. He began his career in Hollywood in 1953, where he worked with Walt Disney, MGM, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Columbia, and Filmation. In 1964 Don won the Venice Film Festival award for his screenplay, The Soldier. Also, in 1966 Don received the Academy Award Nomination for the original screenplay and story Naked Prey. But of special interest to Oz fans is that Don was a Background Artist for Journey Back to Oz.  Don Peters passed away in Hollywood Beach, California, on October 4, 2002, at the age of eighty-one.

These two mugs (and another still), as well as a limited-edition lithograph, are available on-line from Diane Steele.com. Click here to check them out!  Diane will also be attending the Winkie Convention next month and, of course, she will have these great mugs available at the convention, too.

So, that's the blog for today - I'm off to have a cup of tea in my Ozzy new mug!

Drink Me!

This is a  wonderful advertisement for a Return to Oz Ovaltine-like chocolate milk drink called Oz (Ozu in Japanese). The ad was originally published in the Japanese movie theater program for the release of Return to Oz in Japan in 1985. No example of the actual drink mix has come to light, but I'd be happy to try a glass of the stuff.

I'd also like to know what happened to the great Return to Oz costumes made for this advertisement. I want them!

Ok - we've had our Ozu chocolate milk, and it's time for bed. Phew! Just dodged the bullet again on the blog deadline! Back to normal schedule on Monday.

Recipes from Ruth Plumly Thompson

In today's blog we have a recipe from Ruth Plumly Thompson for Popcorn Globes! The recipe was originally published in Thompson's children's page for the Philadelphia Public Ledger.

This recipe appeared in Thompson's weekly "Doll's Ledger" section, November 26, 1916. Start popping your corn!

The Cooking Class

by Ruth Plumly Thompson

Every doll and every doll mother loves to pop corn - why, even grown-up ladies and gentlemen like to. It is such fun watching the little hard kernels suddenly pop into little soft white balls - for all the world like Cinderella when the Fairy Queen waved her wand, and her old rags turned to beautiful silks and satins.

And after it is popped, here is the very loveliest way to fix it - so that it will taste every bit as good as it looks.

Popcorn Globes

Place three quarts of popped corn in a large pan. Then melt one tablespoon of butter in another pan and add one cupful of molasses and one-half cupful of sugar. Boil until it becomes hard when dropped into cold water

Then sprinkle the popcorn with salt and pour the hot syrup over it, stirring constantly. When cold enough to handle, shape in round balls, pressing as lightly as possible.

Brunch in Bunbury

In L. Frank Baum's sixth Oz book, The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy Gale and her entourage visit Bunbury, a village of living baked goods. Dorothy is rather hungry and wonders if the tasty citizens of Bunbury might find her something to eat:

Then a big, puffed-up man, of a delicate brown color, stepped forward and said;

"I think it would be a shame to send this child away hungry, especially as she agrees to eat whatever we can spare and not touch our people."

"So do I, Pop," replied a roll who stood near.

"What, then, do you suggest, Mr. Over?" inquired Mr. Bunn.

Well, things go down hill pretty quickly after Toto eats several of Bunbury's citizens. But in today's blog you can sample a genuine Bunbury treat by following L. Frank Baum's recipe for Popovers!

Baum's granddaughter, Ozma Baum Mantele, wrote, "Grandfather Baum liked to cook, as did my father [Kenneth Baum], who used to say that breakfast was a favorite meal in their house. On Sunday mornings we always had meat for breakfast, such as pork chops, lamb chops, lamb kidneys sauté (a particular favorite), plus popovers, another favorite. According to my father, these were favorites of his father." So here we present L. Frank Baum's very own popovers!

Popovers

A recipe by L. Frank Baum

Grease six custard cups and place in a 450 degree oven. Beat two eggs, add one cup milk and one tablespoon cooking oil. Add one cup flour and one-half teaspoon salt. Beat until smooth. Half fill hot custard cups. Bake 25 minutes, then reduce heat by 100 degrees and bake fifteen minutes more, until firm. Prick each popover before removing from oven to allow steam to escape. Serve hot.

Ruth Plumly Thompson meets John Dough

One of my favorite projects at HTP was our beautifully restored edition of Baum's 1906 fairytale John Dough and the Cherub. The book had been long out of print and it really deserved to be made available once again.

The illustrations were prepared from a 1906 first printing and were then meticulously cleaned up removing much dirt from the original engravings so the book actually has better reproduction than the rare original. Our edition of John Dough also has a great foreword by J. L. Bell. It's a thick oversized book and it just feels like a fairytale novel should.

As part of our 2008 publicity campaign we prepared some John Dough bookmarks featuring a recipe for Gingersnaps by the second Royal Historian of Oz Ruth Plumly Thompson. I've tried the recipe and it's a pretty good cookie! The recipe is given exactly as Thompson wrote it. But do read the "Modern Notes" at the end of the recipe!

GINGERSNAPS
by Ruth Plumly Thompson

Did you ever come out from bathing or come home from a long ride and find a plateful of hot ginger snaps and a glass of ice cold milk waiting for you? If you did, you will never forget how good it tasted, and because I want you to know, here is the recipe:

One cup of butter, one cup of molasses, one cup sugar, three-fourths cup of milk, one teaspoon of saleratus, two teaspoonfuls ginger.

Mix together with enough flour for a pretty stiff dough. Roll out thin, cut out into little round cakes and bake quickly.

You can eat just as many as you want, too, because they won’t give you the mullygrubs or the doldrums or anything like that!

Modern Notes by David Maxine

Saleratus is just an old-fashioned name for baking soda. Dough requires five to six cups of flour and is best chilled before rolling. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. Modern tastes may desire a teaspoon of salt. The recipe can easily be cut in half. This is a subtle, old-fashioned cookie. Enjoy!