Website design By BotEap.comWhen Frank Baum wrote the American classic, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900, it was a popular book for young people to read. Later, in 1939, the story was immortalized as a movie, shot partly in black and white and in color, starring Judy Garland, as a young Kansas farmer who hits her head in a tornado and dreams of landing in a mythical world of munchkins. , witches, a scarecrow, a tin man and a lion who travel to meet Oz, a powerful wizard. However, according to a recent MSN article, “Why Pennies and Other Monetary Trivia Still Exist” by Andrew Lisa, there is “overwhelming academic evidence” that the story is an allegory of the late 19th century American economic state, known as “populism”.

Website design By BotEap.comIn the 1890s, populism referred to the populist movement that arose out of financial insecurity suffered by the average American, primarily farmers who earned a meager income, due to poor harvests, falling prices, and true fear of financial favor. In other words, the populists wanted economic power for ordinary people who earned a meager amount from their jobs. They wanted money to be based on the “gold standard” so that their currency could be exchanged for gold.

Website design By BotEap.comThe context of the populist movement would probably never have been connected as a parable of the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” until the author and historian Henry M. Littlefield published an article in 1964 in the “American Quarterly”, in which he clearly explained the characters. ‘symbolic meaning in the populist movement. Dorothy is the main character representing the average American who travels the “yellow brick road” which means the gold standard to get to the Emerald City: the green dollar to find the “Wizard”.

Website design By BotEap.comDorothy meets some friends along the way, who have needs that only the Wizard can provide. For example, the Scarecrow represents the average American farmer who claims to need a brain. The brain is a metaphor for college education. The Tin Man is the industrial worker who builds steel items. You need a heart as the manufacturing industry operates with dehumanized and indifferent workers. The Cowardly Lion who is the politician Williams Jennings Bryan, who according to the populists was afraid of competing against President William McKinley, who is the Magician. McKinley is the leading American politician who seems wise and benevolent, but in reality he is an evil con man who does not know what he is doing. However, the Wizard gives value to the Lion.

Website design By BotEap.comOther characters from the Wizard of Oz include the Wicked Witch, which is the monetary system, killed by Dorothy, the average average American who had the power to kill the witch if she only believed in herself. In the book, Dorothy wears silver slippers, instead of “ruby slippers” in the movie. The silver slippers represent the “anti-inflationary” free silver movement, in which silver was used to mint coins, circulated among the American people.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen considering the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” as a symbol or allegory of the early Popular Movement, it is easy to see that the story is really about money. and politics.

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