Editing L. Frank Baum (section)

==Career==
===Theater===
Baum embarked on his lifetime infatuation—and wavering financial success—with the theater.<ref>Rogers, pp. 8–9, 16–17 and ff.</ref> A local theatrical company duped him into replenishing their stock of costumes on the promise of leading roles coming his way. Disillusioned, Baum left the theater—temporarily—and went to work as a clerk in his brother-in-law's dry goods company in [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]]. This experience may have influenced his story "The Suicide of Kiaros", first published in the literary journal ''The White Elephant''. A fellow clerk one day had been found locked in a store room dead, probably from suicide.

Baum could never stay away long from the stage. He performed in plays under the stage names of Louis F. Baum and George Brooks.<ref>Rogers, p. 6.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrams|first=Dennis|title=L. Frank Baum|year=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-604-13501-5|page=122}}</ref> In 1880, his father built him a theater in [[Richburg, New York]], and Baum set about writing plays and gathering a company to act in them. ''[[The Maid of Arran]]'' proved a modest success, a [[melodrama]] with songs based on [[William Black (novelist)|William Black]]'s novel ''A Princess of Thule''. Baum wrote the play and composed songs for it (making it a prototypical [[musical play|musical]], as its songs relate to the narrative), and acted in the leading role. His aunt Katharine Gray played his character's aunt. She was the founder of Syracuse Oratory School, and Baum advertised his services in her catalog to teach theater, including stage business, play writing, directing, translating (French, German, and Italian), revision, and [[operettas]]<!---following clause deleted as it makes no sense: though he was not employed to do so--->.

On November 9, 1882, Baum married [[Maud Gage Baum|Maud Gage]], a daughter of [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]], a famous [[women's suffrage]] and [[first wave feminism|feminist]] activist. A local newspaper reported that their ceremony was "one of equality" and that their marriage vows were "precisely the same."<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Kate|title=Ordinary Equality: The Fearless Women and Queer People Who Shaped the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment|publisher=[[Gibbs Smith]]|date=2022|location=Layton, UT|page=54|isbn=9781423658726}}</ref> While Baum was touring with ''The Maid of Arran'', the theater in Richburg caught fire during a production of Baum's ironically titled parlor drama ''Matches'', destroying the theater as well as the only known copies of many of Baum's scripts, including ''Matches'', as well as costumes.

===The South Dakota years===
In July 1888, Baum and his wife moved to [[Aberdeen, South Dakota|Aberdeen, Dakota Territory]] where he opened a store called "Baum's Bazaar". His habit of giving out wares on credit led to the eventual bankrupting of the store,<ref>Rogers, pp. 23–25.</ref> so Baum turned to editing the local newspaper ''[[The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer]]'' where he wrote the column ''Our Landlady''.<ref>Rogers, pp. 25–27 and ff.</ref> Following the death of [[Sitting Bull]] at the hands of Indian agency police, Baum recommended the wholesale extermination of all America's native peoples in a column that he wrote on December 20, 1890 (full text below).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sutherland|first1=JJ|title=L. Frank Baum Advocated Extermination Of Native Americans|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/27/130862391/l-frank-baum-advocated-extermination-of-native-americans|access-date=May 20, 2017|publisher=NPR|date=October 27, 2010}}</ref> It is unclear whether Baum meant it as a satire or not, especially since his mother-in-law [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]] received an honorary adoption into the Wolf Clan of the [[Mohawk Nation]] and was a fierce defender of Native American rights,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Matilda Joslyn Gage |title=The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation |url=https://matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515140610/https://matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage |url-status=dead }}</ref> but on January 3, 1891, he returned to the subject in an editorial response to the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]]:<ref>Stannard, David E, ''American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World'', Oxford Press, 1992, p. 126 {{ISBN|0-19-508557-4}}</ref>

<blockquote>The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extirmination {{sic}} of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.<ref>[https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fulllist/second/en213/term1/l_frank_baum.pdf Hastings, A. Waller. "L. Frank Baum's Editorials on the Sioux Nation"], ''Northern State University.'' (Retrieved November 27, 2017)</ref></blockquote>

Baum's description of [[Kansas]] in ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' is based on his experiences in drought-ridden [[South Dakota]].<ref name="r489">{{cite journal | last=West | first=Mark I. | title="The Dakota Fairy Tales of L. Frank Baum" | date=February 2, 2007 | url=https://www.sdhspress.com/journal/south-dakota-history-30-1/the-dakota-fairy-tales-of-l-frank-baum |journal=South Dakota History |volume=30 |issue=1 | access-date=June 22, 2024}}</ref> During much of this time, his mother-in-law was living in the Baum household. While Baum was in South Dakota, he sang in a quartet which included [[James H. Kyle|James Kyle]], who became one of the first [[populism|Populist]] ([[People's Party (United States)|People's Party]]) senators in the U.S.{{Citation needed|date = December 2012}}

===Writing===
[[File:Baum poster 1b.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Promotional Poster for Baum's "Popular Books For Children", {{circa|1901}}]]
Baum's newspaper failed in 1891, and he, Maud, and their four sons moved to the [[Humboldt Park, Chicago|Humboldt Park]] section of Chicago, where Baum took a job reporting for the ''[[Chicago Evening Post|Evening Post]]''. 

{{anchor|Visual Merchandising + Store Design}}
Beginning in 1897, he founded and edited a magazine called ''The Show Window'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.vmsd.com/content/throwbackthursday|title=#ThrowbackThursday|work=Visual Merchandising and Store Design|access-date=October 4, 2017|language=en}}</ref> later known as the ''Merchants Record and Show Window'', which focused on store window displays, retail strategies and visual merchandising. The major department stores of the time created elaborate Christmas time fantasies, using clockwork mechanisms that made people and animals appear to move. The former ''Show Window'' magazine is still currently in operation, now known as ''VMSD'' magazine<ref name=":0" /> (visual merchandising + store design), based in Cincinnati.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vmsd.com|title=Visual Merchandising and Store Design|access-date=October 4, 2017|language=en}}</ref> 

In 1900, Baum published a book about window displays in which he stressed the importance of mannequins in drawing customers.<ref name=Smithsonian>Emily and Per Ola d'Aulaire, "Mannequins: our fantasy figures of high fashion," ''Smithsonian'', Vol. 22, no. 1, April 1991</ref> He also had to work as a [[Vendor (supply chain)|traveling salesman]].<ref>Rogers, pp. 45–59.</ref>
[[File:W._W._Denslow_1900.png|right|thumb|upright|alt=Black and white photo of man seated, drawing at a desk|Denslow in 1900]]
In 1897, he wrote and published ''[[Mother Goose in Prose]]'', a collection of [[Mother Goose]] rhymes written as prose stories and illustrated by [[Maxfield Parrish]]. ''Mother Goose'' was a moderate success and allowed Baum to quit his sales job (which had had a negative impact on his health). In 1899, Baum partnered with illustrator [[William Wallace Denslow|W. W. Denslow]] to publish ''[[Father Goose, His Book]]'', a collection of nonsense poetry. The book was a success, becoming the best-selling children's book of the year.<ref>Rogers, pp. 54–69 and ff.</ref>

[[File:Ad for Baum-Parrish Mother Goose book.gif|thumb|upright|right| The Baum–Parrish Mother Goose used to promote a breakfast cereal (part 1 of 12 as a free premium)]]

====''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''====
In 1900, Baum and Denslow (with whom he shared the copyright) published ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' to much critical acclaim and financial success.<ref>Rogers, pp. 73–94.</ref> The book was the best-selling children's book for two years after its initial publication. Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the [[Land of Oz]].

====''The Wizard of Oz: Fred R. Hamlin's Musical Extravaganza''====
[[File:Tin-Man-poster-Hamlin.jpeg|thumb|left|upright|1903 poster of Dave Montgomery as the Tin Man in Hamlin's musical stage version.]]
Two years after ''Wizard''{{'s}} publication, Baum and Denslow teamed up with composer [[Paul Tietjens]] and director Julian Mitchell to produce a [[The Wizard of Oz (1902 stage play)|musical stage version]] of the book under Fred R. Hamlin.<ref>Rogers, pp. 105–110.</ref> Baum and Tietjens had worked on a musical of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' in 1901 and based closely upon the book, but it was rejected. This stage version opened in Chicago in 1902 (the first to use the shortened title "The Wizard of Oz"), then ran on Broadway for 293 stage nights from January to October 1903. It returned to Broadway in 1904, where it played from March to May and again from November to December. It successfully toured the United States with much of the same cast, as was done in those days, until 1911, and then became available for amateur use. The stage version starred Anna Laughlin as [[Dorothy Gale]], alongside David C. Montgomery and [[Fred Stone]] as the [[Tin Woodman]] and [[Scarecrow (Oz)|Scarecrow]] respectively, which shot the pair to instant fame.

The stage version differed quite a bit from the book, and was aimed primarily at adults. Toto was replaced with Imogene the Cow, and Tryxie Tryfle (a waitress) and [[Pastoria]] (a streetcar operator) were added as fellow cyclone victims. The Wicked Witch of the West was eliminated entirely in the script, and the plot became about how the four friends were allied with the usurping Wizard and were hunted as traitors to Pastoria II, the rightful King of Oz. It is unclear how much control or influence Baum had on the script; it appears that many of the changes were written by Baum against his wishes due to contractual requirements with Hamlin. Jokes in the script, mostly written by Glen MacDonough, called for explicit references to President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], Senator [[Mark Hanna]], Rev. Andrew Danquer, and oil tycoon [[John D. Rockefeller]]. Although use of the script was rather free-form, the line about Hanna was ordered dropped as soon as Hamlin got word of his death in 1904.

Beginning with the success of the stage version, most subsequent versions of the story, including newer editions of the novel, have been titled "The Wizard of Oz", rather than using the full, original title. In more recent years, restoring the full title has become increasingly common, particularly to distinguish the novel from the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood film]].

Baum wrote a new Oz book, ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', with a view to making it into a stage production, which was titled ''[[The Woggle-Bug (musical)|The Woggle-Bug]]'', but Montgomery and Stone balked at appearing when the original was still running. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman were then omitted from this adaptation, which was seen as a self-rip-off by critics and proved to be a major flop before it could reach Broadway. He also worked for years on a musical version of ''[[Ozma of Oz]]'', which eventually became ''[[The Tik-Tok Man of Oz]]''. This did fairly well in Los Angeles, but not well enough to convince producer [[Oliver Morosco]] to mount a production in New York. He also began a stage version of ''[[The Patchwork Girl of Oz]]'', but this was ultimately realized as a ''[[The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914 film)|film]]''.