tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3224037410105354251.post7786720281327960206..comments2024-03-25T04:55:45.033-07:00Comments on A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE: FIFTEEN FACTS ABOUT THE WIZARD OF OZUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3224037410105354251.post-24460679058245914072017-02-01T20:22:48.019-08:002017-02-01T20:22:48.019-08:00I first saw the Wizard of Oz on TV around Easter i...I first saw the Wizard of Oz on TV around Easter in the late 60's or early 70's. It was a very big deal at our house because my father, Jim Barton, actually knew many of the Munchkins.<br /><br />During the early years of the Depression my grandparents and my father, who was a little boy, lived on the grounds of his uncle Terrell Jacobs' winter circus headquarters in Peru, Indiana. Terrell Jacobs was a world famous lion trainer known as "The Lion King".<br /><br />Many of the former Munchkins were circus performers (clowns) who used to dress my dad up as a clown and regal him with tales of working on the film. Dad used to recount these stories to us during commercial breaks or ahead of the TV broadcast of the Wizard of Oz. <br /><br />I too was terrified of the flying monkeys and my younger sister was frightened by the Wicked Witch. <br /><br />Dad had many insights about the making of the film which he shared with us every year when we would watch it around Easter time. Viewing the Wizard of Oz was an annual event which we anticipated and marked in the TV Guide to make sure that we didn't miss it. <br /><br />My father died four years ago at the age of 80. Thank you for this pleasant trip down memory lane.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15542861296915216319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3224037410105354251.post-35377556013934930902014-07-28T14:41:54.497-07:002014-07-28T14:41:54.497-07:00I was around when it was only shown in a couple of...I was around when it was only shown in a couple of the re-releases in the theaters -- that's how I first saw it. I do recall it being shown in the mid 50s on TV but I don't think it was that big of a deal - the time it was shown on TV in the late 50s was a bigger deal. The movie had become more of a classic by then but it still was nothing like what it came to be still at that point but it was getting closer and there was a lot of hype about that late 50s TV broadcast. Maybe the later 50s broadcast was a bigger deal because lots of people were getting color TVs by then (Bonanza and a few other shows were seen in color by then). I seem to recall that was part of the big thing folks were looking forward to if they had a color TV was to see the point where it turns from B&W to color on their home TVs. Seems I recall those 50s TV airings it was shown around Thanksgiving - not sure when it changed to being shown on TV around the Easter season you recall - I know I was not watching it on most broadcasts it had in the 60s (or after for that matter until decades later).beachgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17145677285299398734noreply@blogger.com