L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and a fan of William Jennings Bryan, perh

L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and a fan of William Jennings Bryan, perhaps wrote his story as an allegory of the 1896 election. Dorothy, wearing “silver” slippers (in the original), follows a “yellow brick road” (gold) on a crusade to free the Munchkins (the oppressed little people) from the Wicked Witch of the East (the rapacious corporations and financiers). Liberation is to come in Emerald City (greenbacks) through the intervention of a kindly, but ultimately ineffective wizard (Bryan). Only the entire people—Dorothy and entourage—can prevail against wickedness. Judy Garland starred as Dorothy in the film version of The Wizard of Oz (1939).