atddta 32: dorothy / dally

[grladams at teleport.com]

...shoes? hair? red? silver? what's below is not my writing only the
parenthetical ones are.. I am not sure I've made it well, but here is a
connection between Dally and Dorothy:

(in ~1900) most families lived on farms and were dependant on railroad
companies for commodity deliveries. The railroads collapsed, leaving
farmers high and dry. Farm foreclosures rose and bank failures followed. At
the time, money was backed by the national gold reserve.

A debate began as to whether a gold or silver standard was the wisest
monetary policy. A South Dakota newspaperman L. Frank Baum was thus
inspired to write his children’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” *

Cast yourself as Dorothy; the Scarecrow is a farmer with straw for a brain,
the Tin Man is an industrial worker who’s lost his soul and the Cowardly
Lion is presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, bumbling with little
real courage.

In Baum’s book, the yellow brick road represents gold (in ATD the currency
is represented by what, railroads, right?) and Dorothy’s silver slippers —
a more poignant ruby red in the film — represent silver. (the case of
identity for Dally is her red hair) Dorothy is skipping along with her
friends who look to the Wizard in Emerald City to save the day (Dally is
alone but) — as some expect Washington to solve the country’s economic woes
— to only find that he’s a sham. (does this compare to her looking at the
stuff in the office?) Ultimately Dorothy and her gang have the power within
themselves to cure their ills. (Lew--when we hear the ambiguous "It's me,
it's me," don't you wanna follow it with "Auntie Em?" have another look and
see) As Baum knew — he published the book in 1900, three years after the
recovery began — Washington had no solution. The economy worked through
rising prices, a flood of immigrants who provided cheap labor, and a huge
supply of new consumers to finally revive itself.

*Deflation History, Minnesota Public Radio, 1998.
---http://www.marconews.com/news/2008/feb/18/women-wisdom-wealth-follow-yell
ow-brick-road/



Darcie Guerin is a financial adviser and branch manager at Raymond James &
Associates Inc:

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