PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:           Bette Allen, Executive Director

Phone:              (785) 220-0733

Email:               ballen@greatoverlandstation.com

The Great Overland Station presents

“All Aboard the Oz Express”

Opening August 1, 2009

In the Fink Exhibit Gallery

Lion and Scarecrow and Munchkins - Oh My!

Dorothy and Toto and Tinman – Oh My!

The Wizard and Wicked Witch are coming too - to the Great Overland Station’s Fink Exhibit Gallery where we’ve created the Land of Oz in Kansas! 

“All Aboard the Oz Express!” opens August 1 and runs through October, in celebration of the 70^th anniversary of MGM’s classic, “The Wizard of Oz.”  For 70 years this film has delighted audiences, and even before that L. Frank Baum’s adventurous books were wildly popular.  We invite kids of all ages to come aboard to experience again the charm of this magical story! 

The exhibit features thousands of items of memorabilia from the private collection of Jane Albright, a Topeka native. Visitors will find a child’s room furnished and filled with vintage Oz material; a Christmas tableau with an upside-down Oz tree, nutcrackers and other holiday items; posters and autographs from the 1939 Judy Garland film. 

The world of Oz before and after the film – and around the world itself – will be represented with posters and prints that demonstrate the popularity of the beloved story. From Japanese posters of “The Wiz” to Russian board games and French pop-up books visitors to the exhibit will have a taste of how Oz has been presented around the globe since the original story was first published in 1900.

            “I grew up in Topeka with my Mom reading me Oz books,” says Albright. “There are 40 books in the series that follow the adventures of Dorothy and her friends. With loans from neighbors I managed to read 35 of them as a child. As I became older, I shifted from reading to collecting.”

            For Albright it was originally all about the books. “Then peanut butter pails and posters and valentines came my way,” she says. “Games and toys, particularly the older ones, really intrigued me. It’s unbelievable that so much survives.” 

A wide variety of Oz artifacts are included in this exhibit, including figural soaps, housewares, food packaging, theatrical ephemera and other items that were designed to be used and enjoyed.  “I have a room full of Oz at home that includes plenty of material that was designed for collectors to buy and keep,” adds Albright. “But I prefer the items that some young fan picked up decades ago and actually used: records that were played, Halloween costumes that were worn and craft kits that were put together. That history of Oz pleasing children is what I hope people will celebrate this anniversary year.

            “When Oz author L. Frank Baum wrote his first children’s book, he inscribed it to his sister saying that ‘...to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one’s heart and brings its own reward.’ I tend to think that’s the real measure of success for Oz.”

            The Great Overland Station Museum is located at 701 N. Kansas Avenue.  Admission is free for “Friends of the GOS”; $4.00 for adults, $3.00 seniors, $2.00 children; age 3 and under free; military members receive $1 discount with military ID.  The Station is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and Sunday 1pm to 4pm.

   701 N.  Kansas Avenue  •  PO Box 8792  • Topeka KS 66608  •  (785)232-5533  • FAX (785) 232-6259

   www.greatoverlandstation.com • www.allveteransmemorial.com

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