Oztoberfest dignitaries pose for photos in front of the Oz Museum’s newest additions. From left: Paul Miles Schneider, John Fricke, Myrna Swensen, Johnpaul Cafiero, Ryan Jay and Jane Albright. (Staff photos by Brady Bauman)
WAMEGO — It’s been 76 years since audiences across the world were taken somewhere over the rainbow when “The Wizard of Oz” made it’s 1939 debut.
To think of how different the world is now compared to 1939 takes brains, courage and a lot of heart.
But the love of Oz and Victor Fleming’s directorial achievement has remained among generations that have seen everything from the first man on the moon to the first robots on Mars.
Friday night, Wamego’s Oz Museum kicked off its annual Oztoberfest with the reveal of new costumes from the film and plans for an updated facade to the museum itself.
The costumes — a Munchkin solider’s jacket and a rare Munchkin Fiddler’s jacket — were worn in the film and bought recently by the museum in a New York auction.
The solider’s jacked was worn by Clarence Swensen. His wife, Myrna, was at the unveiling from her home in Austin, Texas.
“It’s hard to describe, I can’t really put it into words,” she said. “It’s very nice and I appreciate it very much. He’d love it. He was a big ham.”
John Fricke, an Emmy Award-winning producer and noted Oz Historian, said the new museum pieces bring more of the Emerald City back to the Sunflower State.
“This is amazing, because in a sense, Dorothy went from Kansas to Oz, but now with these new acquisitions, the Wamego Oz Museum is bringing Oz back to Kansas,” he said. “The fact that a couple of these jackets have survived and are now here is extraordinary.”
A rendition of the proposed new facade of the Oz Museum.
Along with the two costumes worn in the film, the museum also unveiled two reproduction traveling costumes worn by Munchkin actors.
“The Wizard of Oz movie is a part of everybody’s lives,” Fricke said. “Everybody over the age of two or three knows Dorothy, knows the Scarecrow.”
The museum hopes to raise $149,000 — $1,000 was quickly donated Friday night — for the new facade, which will include 3D resin sculptures of the Flying Monkey’s from the film.
