Wizard of Oz fan club collection

This collection maintains materials associated with Oz fan club and collectors' ephemera. The International Wizard of Oz fan club member correspondence and convention ephemera represents the bulk of the collection. The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc., was founded during 1957 by Justin G. Schiller, a then thirteen-year-old boy. The society's major publication, The Baum Bugle, began with Schiller duplicating issues on his parents' mimeograph machine. (The Baum Bugle can be found in the NIU catalog.)

Club members originally organized three major conventions a year in the United States, spanning different regions: Munchkin (east), Winkie (west), and Ozmopolitan (central). The collection also includes ephemera from smaller gatherings—South Winkie, Quadling, and Gillikin or Ozcanabans—among the International Wizard of Oz Club documents. Within the club documents researchers will also find Fred M. Meyer's annual Christmas cards. These cards often included his ideas for new Oz books. Meyer was a founding member who served for decades as the club's secretary. The club published many of L. Frank Baum's books as evidenced by the many publication flyers and order forms within the collection.

A large selection of cataloged materials relates to this collection, but is held within the American Popular Literature collection (see Separated Materials note).