Each week we’ll take a step back into the history of Great Bend through the eyes of reporters past. We’ll reacquaint you with what went into creating the Great Bend of today, and do our best to update you on what “the rest of the story” turned out to be.
On May 17, 1990, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was first published by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in Chicago. According to biographers, Baum had been a political activist in the 1890’s, interested particularly in the debate over gold and silver backing of the Dollar.
Denslow was a full-time editorial cartoonist for a major daily newspaper. Some have speculated that the book was a political allegory of the times, but when asked, Baum always stated he wrote his stories for the amusement of children.
Later in the 20th Century, when the motion picture by that name was produced, Kansas became popularly known as The Land of Oz by the world, and it appears to have stuck for good.
According to an Aug. 24, 2014 report in the Wichita Eagle, Baum only made it to Kansas one time in the 1880s when he was on tour as the author of his play, “The Maid of Arran.”
“Some historians suggest Kansas became the location in “Oz” after Irving, Kan., made national news on May 30, 1879, by becoming the only town hit twice by a tornado in one day. Among the 19 people killed were six members of the Gale family, Dorothy’s last name.”
Baum was born in 1856. His father was an entrepreneur, and Baum and his brother followed in his footsteps. His bio on Wikipedia is filled with reports of his childhood antics, journals he and his brother produced and sold or gave away to friends, his fireworks business and more. Baum was a prolific writer of children’s stories, with the Oz series expanding to 14 books.
“Baum had a flair for being the spotlight of fun in the household, including during times of financial difficulties. His selling of fireworks made the Fourth of July memorable. His skyrockets, Roman candles, and fireworks filled the sky, while many people around the neighborhood would gather in front of the house to watch the displays. Christmas was even more festive. Baum dressed as Santa Claus for the family. His father would place the Christmas tree behind a curtain in the front parlor so that Baum could talk to everyone while he decorated the tree without people managing to see him. He maintained this tradition all his life.”
Two years after it was published, Baum was involved with the musical stage adaptation of the story, which opened in Chicago in 1902, then two runs on Broadway in 1903 and 1904.
“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 Fred R. 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 magnate John D. Rockefeller. Although use of the script was rather free-form, the line about Hanna was dropped as soon as Hamlin got word of his death in 1904.”
Hanna, it should be noted, held a great deal of power in the Republican party, and was instrumental in the nomination and campaign success of President William McKinley, mentioned below, and also that of Roosevelt.
In 1909, “The Wizard of Oz” by Frank Baum was serialized for newspapers, and appeared in many throughout Kansas in the fall and winter of 1909 and 1910. However, it did not appear in the Great Bend papers.
Nomination day
In 1900, Great Bend was served by more than one paper. We had The Barton County Democrat, and The Great Bend Weekly Tribune. This week was marked with an upsurge in political rhetoric and activity.
The Democrat was in favor of William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat from Nebraska. The Tribune was in favor of President William McKinley. Positions about the US acquisition of the Kingdom of Hawaii, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines polarized, and the Dems were painting McKinley’s conquests as unconstitutional, while the Republicans were pointing out the benefits gained by those populations.
But, the local election process described in the Democrat caught our attention. A county nominating convention was coming up on Saturday, June 2, 1900.
“The county officers to be elected this year are Representative, Clerk of the Court, Probate Judge, County Attorney, County Superintendent, County Printer, and County Commissioner for the 2nd District - the district that Great Bend is in.” the Democrat stated. “Every voter is interested in who they have for County Officers; and the first duty of every man is to attend the primaries or caucuses, elect delegates and assist in the nomination of good men for the different county offices. There are lots of available men throughout the county — lots of young and ambitious men of character and ability to choose from.”
The ask was for every township to have a presence in the county election. The hope was Dems and Populists would band together and produce a winning ticket of reformers. It didn’t happen.
Women’s wages and what a dollar could buy
The Tribune reported on Kansas Women and Wages, a report that was meant to be positive at the time, but today would illicit outrage, at least amongst women .
“A report on the wage earnings of women in Kansas shows that 55 percent of the women heard from the report an increased opportunity for employment. The average yearly earnings for women employed as retail clerks, printers, and teachers is $291.06. The average yearly earnings for men employed in the same lines is $511.96.
That’s just about $5.60 a week for women, and $9.84 a week for men. That’s about a 70 percent wage gap. Another consideration is how far the wage went at the time. A ready to wear dress or “wrapper” was advertised by The Cyclone dry goods store for 65 cents. At C. Samuels New York Store, it cost between 75 cents and $1 to buy a new shirtwaist, and skirts ranged from 65 cents to $1.45. Fabric for the home sewer cost 4 cents a yard for lawn, and 10 cents a yard for denim. For a Montgomery Wards catalog, the cost was 15 cents. And a six-month subscription to The Democrat cost 50 cents. It cost $1.54 to take a train excursion to Hutchinson on the Santa Fe Railroad, and it cost $28.64 to travel to Detroit, Mich.
Mrs. Ella Stokes was offering bedding and potted plants to the ladies for 5 to 50 cents each. “Geraniums, verbenas, pansies and plants of various kinds for yard or house. For sale at the residence of Mrs. Ella Stoke. Those wishing plants for cemetery decorations can be supplied.”
Harmonicas received a sizable write-up. It was noted that thousands of the hand-held music makers were sold annually, both single and double sided. They were imported from Austria and Germany, with the expense ranging from 5 cents to $1.25. There were even multi-sided harmonicas with three to six sides, that ranged from $1.25 to $4. The cheaper were mostly considered toys, but good music could be made with a finer harmonica, and holders made it possible for the musician to play it at the same time as the guitar!
