Born in 1856 into a wealthy family, Baum’s life before the success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz contained many hints of the adventures that Dorothy experiences in the book.
• Baum’s total formal education consisted of less than two years at the Peekskill Military Academy.
• As a 15-year-old, Baum published a newspaper with his brother Harry. The Rose Lawn Home Journal was in publication for three years.
• When he was 19, Baum worked as a salesman for his father’s dry goods company, Neal, Baum & Company.
• Baum became an actor and traveled with the Shakespeare Company.
• In 1875, Baum started raising & breeding chickens. He became the first secretary of the Empire State poultry Assn. and organized Annual Poultry Fairs.
• Baum managed a string of theaters owned by his father.
• In 1882, Baum was known for his playwriting – especially the popular Maid of Arran-acting and songwriting.
• Baum also worked as a salesman for his father’s Castorine Company.
• In 1888, Baum moved from Syracuse NY to Aberdeen SD and opened a general store. Baum’s Bazaar. The store took in $60 on opening day.
• After two years, the store closed. Baum spent most of his time ignoring the store and sitting outside telling stories to children.
• Baum took over as editor & publisher of the Dakota Pioneer where he wrote about women’s suffrage, theosophy, and politics and economics of the time. His column, “Our Landlady” discussed issues and personalities important in Aberdeen. The least tolerant tone of all his writings appeared when he wrote about native Americans, after Wounded Knee.
• Baum joined the Episcopalian church – his only church membership- to perform in a production of The Sorcerer.
• Baum lost the Pioneer, moved his family to Chicago and worked briefly for the Chicago Evening Post, before becoming a traveling salesman for the Pitkin & Brooks Chinaware company.
• In 1895, Baum’s poetry, stories and essays begin to appear in the Chicago Times Herald.
• Baum applied for a copyright on two books in 1896. One was Tales from Mother Goose.
• Short stories by Baum were published in a variety of journals.
• In 1898, Baum wrote, printed and bound by hand 99 copies of a book of verse, By the Candelabra’s Glare, for his friends.
• Baum completed a new fairy tale and wrote it in pencil on scraps of paper in 1899. He called it The Emerald City. This was re-titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, when it was published in 1900.
