# Wizard of Oz **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 25, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206 "2004-06-25T17:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sheilablake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sheilablake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sheilablake)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/1 "2004-06-25T17:36:19Z")
The version I heard was it was an allegory on WWII. Poppy fields=Normandy invasion. Flying monkeys=bomber planes. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/2 "2004-06-25T17:45:56Z")
So it was an allegory of a war that hadn’t been fought at the time it was written? Thats _really_ impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/3 "2004-06-25T17:47:33Z")
> [@sheilablake](#): > > Poppy fields=Normandy invasion. It’s pretty impressive that a movie made in 1939 would make reference to D-Day five years before it happened… 🙂 Eric ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/4 "2004-06-25T18:54:40Z")
“OH-WEE-OH” != “Oh-ver-lord.” ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/5 "2004-06-25T19:31:41Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “OH-WEE-OH” != “Oh-ver-lord.” :o Oh, we luv the Old one! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/6 "2004-06-25T20:41:52Z")
Never mind that the movie was made before WWII, the books were written more than a decade before WWI. C’mere, lemme show you how the movie syncs up perfectly with this Pink Floyd album. It’s amazing, man… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/7 "2004-06-25T23:42:59Z")
**sheilablake**. Welcome to the board. If you’re referring to Cecil’s column [Is The Wizard of Oz a satire of the French Revolution?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_392.html) , posting a link to the column helps everyone to read along. It can be as simple as cutting and pasting the link. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/8 "2004-06-26T16:06:49Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “OH-WEE-OH” != “Oh-ver-lord.” Actually, the words are “Oh we love, no…one”. ---
**Author:** ![tinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@tinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tinman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/9 "2004-06-27T01:15:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Actually, the words are “Oh we love, no…one”. Try: O’ we loath the OOOOld One…O’ we loath the OOOOld One :o ---
**Author:** ![tinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@tinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tinman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/10 "2004-06-27T01:18:08Z")
> [@tinman](#): > > Try: > O’ we loath the OOOOld One…O’ we loath the OOOOld One :o Sorry about the spelling: O’ we Loathe (is a verb meaning “to hate intensely.”) the Old One. ---
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/11 "2004-06-27T01:34:03Z")
> [@Santos L Halper](#): > > It’s pretty impressive that a movie made in 1939 would make reference to D-Day five years before it happened… 🙂 > > Eric Could you elaborate on that? I’m a little 😕 . ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/12 "2004-06-27T02:27:03Z")
I was in the Hollywood Library- before the fire- and they had THE original screenplay- and it said “Oh we love, no-one”. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/13 "2004-06-27T06:36:45Z")
> [@Ashkicker](#): > > Could you elaborate on that? I’m a little 😕 . I’m not sure what needs to be explained, but **sheilablake** said that the poppy fields scene in the _Wizard of Oz_ (which came out in 1939) was a reference to the D day Normandy invasion (which took place June 6 1944). So I said “It’s pretty impressive that a movie made in 1939 would make reference to D-Day five years before it happened…” ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/14 "2004-06-27T12:14:28Z")
A) The poppy scene in the 1939 was adapted from the 1903 Broadway musical (the only scene in the entire movie that was). The 1903 poppy scene, in turn, was adapted from the original book, which came out in 1899. B) In the _real_ script (and the movie), the Winkie Guards are not singing any real words at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/15 "2004-06-27T13:53:40Z")
**Santos L Halper** , thanks for clearing that up. That was my fault I thought you were talking about something else. Just had a late night that’s all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@tinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tinman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/16 "2004-06-27T14:32:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I was in the Hollywood Library- before the fire- and they had THE original screenplay- and it said “Oh we love, no-one”. Really. Try this link: [http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html](http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html) ---
**Author:** ![tinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@tinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tinman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/17 "2004-06-27T14:33:47Z")
> [@tinman](#): > > Try this link: > [http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html](http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html) One more time: [http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html](http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/l/a/lag7/facts.html) ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/18 "2004-06-28T17:52:43Z")
How on earth was this free coinage of silver supposed to fix all the populist’s woes? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/19 "2004-06-28T21:19:01Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > How on earth was this free coinage of silver supposed to fix all the populist’s woes? “Populist”, in period, means “pro-farmer”. If you’re a farmer with a mortgage, inflation is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206/20 "2004-06-28T22:21:24Z")
We today hear “inflation” as a dirty word, conditioned as we were by the 70’s. As **John W. Kennedy** states, however, it was a desired outcome for the Populist movement. Let’s put some specifics on his explanation. You are a farmer with a $5,000 20-year mortgage. Your interest rate is 5%. Your payment would, therefore, be $33.00 and the total interest to be paid over the life of the loan would be $2,919.05. This is the note you sign with the bank, which fixes the payment amount. Now add an inflation rate of 5% annually. (Note: I don’t know if this was the Populists’s target rate, but it doesn’t seem outrageous for this illustration.) At the end of one year, prices, wages, etc. have all gone up by 5%, so your $33.00 monthly payment is now “effectively” $31.35. After two years, it is effectively $29.79. This continues through the life of the mortgage, until your payment is effectively $11.83. As wage and price inflation goes up, you are getting more dollars. Those dollars may be worth less, but your committments are in constant dollars. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206.md?page=2)