In the central New York village of Chittenango, where Wizard of Oz creator L. Frank Baum was born, there really is a yellow brick road.
It may be a simple zigzag of tinted bricks along the main street sidewalk. But it was Baum’s inspiration for the fabled path Dorothy skipped along—with her dog Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion—to see the “great and powerful” wizard.
Chittenango’s museum for Wizard of Oz fans
Thankfully, Chittenango’s sidewalk leads to the All Things Oz museum, an informative stop for anyone with even passing knowledge of Baum’s 1900 classic, or the 1939 landmark film starring Judy Garland, or any of their modern spinoffs—such as The Wiz, the 1970s Broadway show, and Wicked, another hit musical staged three decades later.
Museum visitors learn a little about Baum and a lot about Oz.
A sickly child born in 1856 to a prosperous Chittenango family, Baum became a poultry breeder, playwright, actor, newspaperman and salesman of everything from china dishes to axle oil—all before finding success as a children’s author. His volume of nonsense rhymes, Father Goose, was the best-selling kids’ book of 1899.
But when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published the following year, success was confirmed.
Inspired by his children
Mark Sample, a volunteer with the non-profit museum (and, with his white beard and impish smile, a man who could pass for a wizard himself), says Baum concocted stories for his children. His mother-in-law, prominent suffragette Matilda Joslyn Gage, suggested he write them down.
The Oz stories had some basis in fact, Sample says. “Family lore has it Matilda was a proper woman who insisted everyone call her Mrs. Gage—except for the neighbour kids, who were allowed to call her Aunt Em,” according to Sample. “And Dorothy was based on a niece who died young.”
Baum followed up with another 13 novels about Oz, and dozens of other books under eight pen names. One was Edith Van Dyne, whose once-popular books about a teenaged female detective predated Nancy Drew by decades. Shelves of Baum’s works in one section of the museum drive home just how prolific he was.
Also displayed are the original publisher’s contract, various photos of Baum, and such artefacts as containers of his early axle oil, Baum’s Castorine.
It’s Victor Fleming’s beloved 1939 film, however, that shapes today’s popular imagination, and exhibits feature each of its principal actors. You learn, for example, that Billie Burke, who portrayed Good Witch Glinda, was the daughter of a circus clown and the wife of showman Flo Ziegfeld; her counterpart, Wicked Witch Margaret Hamilton, was the voice of Aunt Em in a 1970s animated sequel; and the last surviving Munchkin, Jerry Maren, portrayed the Hamburglar in McDonald’s TV commercials.
Masters of merch
But many artefacts are Oz-inspired merchandise. “The Wizard of Oz is the most marketed movie of all time,” Sample says. “Star Wars is second.” The array of objects is dizzying, ranging from finger puppets distributed with detergent to a Toto clock that barks on the hour.
There are card games, collectible plates, music boxes, a stained glass window, picture frames, cookie jars and dolls. The rarest item, Sample says, is a set of four child-sized clothes hangers, painted with such characters as the flying monkeys; the only known remaining complete set, it’s assessed at US$10,000 or more, though the hangers sold in dime stores in the 1930s.
The story’s modern renditions aren’t overlooked. From costumes for the Broadway production of Wicked to screenings of Ozland, a 2015 post-apocalyptic film shot for US$10,000, it’s clear Oz still strikes a chord.
“It was a big surprise to me to see how many come from around the world to this little town just for the Oz museum,” Sample says. “And the emotion. Occasionally a visitor is so devoted to Oz that when they come through our door, they sob and sob and sob.”
If you go
All Things Oz is at 219 Genesee Street in Chittenango, New York, about 3.5 hours from Ottawa and roughly 35 minutes east of Syracuse. The museum’s website has the latest information on opening hours and prices.
The volunteer-run organization mounts Oz-Stravaganza!—reputedly the world’s largest Oz-themed festival. Scheduled for June 2 to 4, 2023, it will feature costume contests (come dressed as your favourite Oz character), carnival rides, games, authors, artists, Baum family members, vendors and fireworks.
Other locals have cashed in on Oz, too. On the edge of town you’ll find the Yellow Brick Road Casino. Critz Farms, a craft beer and cider maker in nearby Cazenovia, produces a maple-tinged hard cider called Glinda’s Gold. Meanwhile, you’ll find lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!) at The Wild Animal Park just up the road from All Things Oz.
And if museums are your thing, check out the nearby International Boxing Hall of Fame, the Oneida Community Mansion House that once headquartered a 19th-century utopian community, and two museums devoted to the important 19th-century shipping route, the Erie Canal—the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum and the Canal Town Museum in Canastota.
For general information on the region, contact Madison County Tourism.
Updated March 29, 2023.
Looking for more tips on places to go and things to do near Ottawa? Why not subscribe to the free, weekly Ottawa Road Trips e-newsletter?