Author of Denslow's Scarecrow and Tinman, original illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Father Goose: His Book, Dot and Tot of Merryland, etc.
Originally published 1904
[In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the opening of the musical extravaganza The Wizard of Oz on June 16, 1902, in Chicago, Illinois, Hungry Tiger Press is proud to present this rare Oz story by William Wallace Denslow, original illustrator of the book the musical was based on and designer of several costumes of the principal characters. This story treats the Oz characters as if they are actually performing their roles in the show during its smash Broadway run in New York City. The roles were actually played by Fred Stone (the Scarecrow) and David Montgomery (the Tinman). This former vaudeville comedy team rocketed to stardom in The Wizard of Oz, and the popularity of their character interpretations resulted in the long series of Oz books.]
"It is a shame, said the Scare-crow to the Tin-man, one afternoon as they were resting after the performance, here we are working day after day, night after night to amuse the children, and we haven t time for any fun ourselves. I'm going to strike, I am."
"That's so," said the Tin-man, "we haven't had a vacation in two years."
"Say--let's break out and wake up the town," replied the Scare-crow. "Come on."
So, while the manager was counting his money, the Scare-crow and the Tin-man quietly stole out of the stage door and ran down the street, greatly to the surprise of the stage doorkeeper, who told the manager that the stars had run away.
There was a great hubbub back of the scenes when they found that the Scare-crow and the Tin-man had fled.
The police were notified and searchers were sent everywhere to catch the truants, for the evening performance could not go on without them.
Meanwhile the runaway pair were having a wild, jolly time in the old town.
They ran until they thought they were safe from pursuit, and then jumped on a street car to get as far from the theater as they could in a short time.
"Fare," said the conductor.
"What's that?" asked the Scare-crow.
"Pay your money or get off!" said the conductor.
The Scare-crow and the Tin-man laughed at the idea of anyone wanting money from them.
"We haven't any," said the Tin-man.
"Then off you go!" and the conductor tossed the two from the car.
"That Tin-man had a hard face," said an old lady near the door.
Bang! went the Tin-man and the Scare-crow into a banana and apple stand kept by an Italian on the corner, as they came off the car in a hurry.
Down went the stand, fruit and the two friends into the gutter.
Of course the banana man was angry, and talked loudly in broken English.
Away the two friends flew down the street with the angry banana man after them, calling loudly for his pay for the spoiled fruit.
"Everybody seems to want money," said the Scare-crow, as he jumped into an automobile that was standing by the curb. In tumbled the Tin-man, and away they dashed, leaving the Italian waving his arms wildly on the corner.
"This is great," said the Scare-crow.
"It beats the theater all to pieces," replied the Tin-man, as they fairly flew over the avenue at a reckless pace.
"Hi! Stop there," shouted a bicycle policeman. "You are going too fast."
But they only waved him a tra-la as they sped along.
The policeman blew a loud blast on his whistle, and the auto was hemmed in and surrounded by policemen just as the Scare-crow steered the machine into a mortar bed in front of a new building.
The automobile turned a complete somersault, scattering mortar, brick and sand in all directions over the policemen and the crowd that was collecting.
At this stage the auto commenced to sizzle and suddenly blew up sending our friends high in the air.
One of the policemen turned in an alarm, and the fire-engines were soon on the spot to put out the fire on the auto, and taking advantage of the confusion the two friends dodged down an alley, out on another street and were soon far away.
By and by they found themselves in Madison Square near the fountain, when a man carelessly threw a lighted match directly in to the straw that was sticking out of the Scare-crow's chest and set him in a blaze.
The Tin-man seeing this danger, with rare presence of mind caught up his friend and dumped him into the fountain, but in doing so he stumbled and fell in himself.
Now, what was good for the Scare-crow was not good for the Tin-man, and after they had crawled out of the water he began to rust, and as he had left his oil-can at the theater, he was soon stiff in all his joints, so that the Scare-crow had to help him along.
Just then they heard a voice behind them say, "There they are; arrest them."
It was the voice of the manager who was hunting them with a squad of policemen.
There was no escape, as the Tin-man was so rusty by this time that he could scarcely move, and the happy pair were soon hustled into a patrol wagon and given a ride to the station.
When they came before the judge, and he had heard the complaint of the manager, he sentenced the Scare-crow and the Tin-man to another year in the theater to make fun for the children.
"That's all right," said the Scare-crow. "We have had out little fun and it's all right. We go back with pleasure."
The Scare-crow oiled up the Tin-man so that he was as good as ever, and got some new straw to swell out his own chest, and the two friends shone with new luster at the evening performance that night. The children laughed as they had never laughed before at the droll antics of the Scare-crow and the Tin-man.
THE FORGETFUL POET
By Ruth Plumly Thompson
Originally published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, January 7, 1917.
Originally published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, January 7, 1917.
The Forgetful Poet Says
That he supposes by now you know just what was in the toe of your Christmas stocking--so he won't have to tell you (Ahem--as if he knew)--and the rest of the answers, he says, were plum pudding, Santa Claus and the North Pole and charm, which turned about equals March--a far from charming month.
If you were writing a letter, what animal would you begin it with, and what animal would you end it with? My goodness! I did not think we would need any--but he says we do.
What Is It?
That winds up
And runs down--
No--'tisn't a top,
And it's dusty brown.
And--
This time o' year--
What's quickly made
And quickly broken--
Forgotten soon as
It is spoken?
And--
What can go up the chimney down?
{Answers next time}
Copyright © 2002 Eric Shanower and David Maxine. All rights reserved.
