• DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Many interpret the Wizard of Oz as being a reference to the authors ideas about the switch to gold and silver backed money, which was an issue of the time.

    Oz references ounces, the yellow brick road is a golden road, in the book Dorothy has silver shoes, not ruby, the Emerald City is supposedly where paper currency is issued, and the Wizard is supposed to be a banker.

    Oh and the Lion is supposed to be Teddy Roosevelt. Apparently there are a fair few political references of the era it was written.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Baum wrote a fuckload of Oz books, too. If 1940s Hollywood was anything like today, we would have been too busy making Oz sequels to participate in WWII.