Wizard of OZ

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

(Under Construction- More to Come)

The Story of the Collection

Many Have asked me, "How did your family get started collecting OZ?"

As far back as I can remember, the watching of the Wizard of Oz has always been a family tradition.

In fact, we have the first TV Guide (1956) in which the advertisement of the movie appeared.

It was a family time, we all took our bath, got into our PJs and grabbed a pillow to hide under when the

Wicked Witch appeared with her flying monkeys. We collected the coloring books, records and Mego action figures.

For Halloween, I dressed like the Lion, my brother Bill was the Tinman, my sister Denise was Dorothy,

Kevin was the Scarecrow, and my youngest brother Dennis was Toto. (our costumes are in the collection)

It continued to grow as we collected autographs, books from around the world, and some pretty rare pieces

people would donate or offer to the collection. After more than 50 years of collecting, the collection has grown

to over 24,000 pieces, most of these are in Wamego and will be rotated in and out of the Oz Museum.

The staff has done a marvelous job at displaying these great pieces of our literary and entertainment history.

So if you are ever in Kansas, do not hesitate to visit this wonderful little town and this one of a kind Oz Museum.

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Oz Museum, Wamego, Kansas

Friar Jp with Jerry and Elizabeth Maren ( The Original Lollipop Kid)

Click on smaller pictures to enlarge

Friar Johnpaul Visits The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas

Oct. 3-5, 2008, Wamego, Kansas

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The 9/11 Story

One of the Display Cases in the Oz Museum at Wamego is the September 11, 2001 Case.

The case contains a number of items related to Oz and that terrible event on 9/11.

The design of The Mall at the World Trade Center was essentially an underground figure eight, spanning most of the subterranean level beneath WTC buildings 4, 5, and the WTC Plaza. At the edges of the ‘figure 8′, different spokes radiated out: into the WTC complex to the west, onto the streets, or into the PATH and Subway stations directly connected to the mall. Decor was modern yet decidedly dated. This mall didn’t need to sell shoppers with fanciness - they were going to shop there regardless.

With an impressive roster of about 80 stores, The Mall was made up of many popular typical mall retailers, including Sam Goody, The Limited, Express, Structure, Warner Bros. Studio Store, J Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, and the list went on. The Mall also had service-oriented and convenience retailers such as Duane Reade drug store, and several fast food establishments. Popular sit-down or fast-casual restaurants were in the works when the mall was destroyed.

During my many trips to NYC to visit my dads PATH offices in the WTC, I would often visit the Warner Brother Store on the concourse ,right near the Church Street side. Many of the Warner Brother Items in my collection are from the WTC store. On a visit in August of 2001, my friend the manager, told me that she had some sets of large stuffed characters that were a test item and since the store was closing in October, she asked if I would like to have them. I said yes immediately. She said they would be sent out in a week or so. Well, we all know what happened on 9/11/01. After I heard that my family was alright, I called the Warner Brother store in Times Square to inquire about my friends at the WTC store. They had all made it out fine. I did have the question about the dolls but figured they were lost in the disaster. To my surprise and amazement, on Sept. 14, 2001, I received five large boxes from the WTC Warner Brothers Store. My hands shook as I opened the boxes marked World Trade Center Warner Brothers Store. The five characters of Oz survived and are now on display in Wamego.