In 1900 children’s books author L. Frank Baum wrote his penultimate classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Chronicling the adventures of Dorothy Gale, a young girl who is transported from her home in Kansas to the magical Land of Oz, the book has been cemented in the lists of great children’s literature. Since its inception the story and its characters have been adapted to various mediums in several productions.

Two years after the George M. Hill Company published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz it was performed as a musical on Broadway by the well known shortened title The Wizard of Oz. Then in 1939 the most famous version of Baum’s creation came to the silver screen curtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Though the film was not an immediate box office hit, it was nominated for six Academy Awards, and achieved more success following subsequent rereleases.

From 1904 to 1920 Baum wrote a collection of sequels all set in Oz. Others expanded on Baum’s fictitious world, including a Russian translation of five books called The Wizard of the Emerald City series. In 1967 The Seekers, an Australian band, recorded an album called “Emerald City,” with lyrics centered on a visit there, then in 1982 A Barnstormer in Oz was published by Philip José Farmer centered around Dorothy’s son. Author Geoff Ryman wrote the novel Was in 1992 weaving three stories, one loosely based on Judy Garland’s childhood. In 2007 the Sci Fi channel co-produced Tin Man, a miniseries that was a continuation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz leaning heavily on science fiction elements in its storytelling.

Gregory Maguire published Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West in 1995. His revisionist version of the events in Oz were focused on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Eight years later his reimagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was adapted as a musical on Broadway starring the dynamic stage actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. In 2012 rumors started flying that Universal Studios was taking steps to realize a film version of the play. Then in 2013 James Franco starred in Oz the Great and Powerful telling a story of the magician who gets swept away to Oz where he meets three exceptional witches.

Female patrons who went to see the 100th performance of The Wizard of Oz stage show in 1903 were given jewelry boxes as mementoes. One such example is in Hake’s Americana & Collectibles upcoming Auction #213. The brass hinged-lid jewelry box measures 2.25” by 3-3/8” by 2.5” with the Cowardly Lion figural lid handle. This and many other items are currently open for bids. The auction closes November 13, 2014.