Hot off the Press

In 1900, L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first of 14 novels in his classic series on the magical land of Oz. But did you know that in the same year, he published a distinctly non-magical treatise, The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors? Thanks to the volunteers at Distributed Proofreaders and Project Gutenberg, you can learn all about window dressing from one who was a wizard at it.

Baum was born near Syracuse, New York, into a wealthy family. He dabbled in writing from an early age, and his first efforts were on nonfiction topics like stamp collecting and chicken breeding. He also dabbled in drama, writing and acting in plays in a theater his father built for him, until the theater burned down, along with many of his scripts. He and his wife decided to try their luck out West. He opened a store in South Dakota, but it failed. He edited a newspaper there, and that failed. Then it was off to Chicago to become a newspaper reporter and traveling china salesman. In 1897, he founded a magazine on store window dressing, The Show Window, which is still in existence today as VMSD (visual marketing and store design).

Three years later, Baum wrote The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors, which was published under the auspices of The Show Window. In his introduction, he points out:

Merchants of olden times stood in front of their shops and cried “buy!—buy!” in imploring tones. Modern merchants still cry “buy!—buy!” but they do it in a different way. They advertise in newspapers and display their wares in their show windows… The last mode of inducing trade is the modern one, and therefore the best. More goods are sold through window display than through newspaper advertising. It is more direct. The newspaper advertisement says: “We have goods to sell.” The show window says: “Here they are!”

Baum’s book focuses on the practical rather than the theoretical, as he believed that the “simplest and easiest way of accomplishing any work is always the best.” It is filled with diagrams and photos showing designs for storefront windows, frameworks, fixtures for displaying merchandise, draperies, and backgrounds. Baum also gives detailed advice on creating eye-catching show cards, right down to the calligraphy and what brushes and paints to use for it. He even covers how to create proper order slips. A firm believer in modern methods, he includes several chapters on electric lighting and motorized displays, with numerous examples.

The success of the Oz series meant that Baum would be a window dresser no more. But The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors gives us a glimpse of the breadth of his creative talents.

This post was contributed by Linda Cantoni, a Distributed Proofreaders volunteer.