Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Was It A Typo?

Here is a recent article I enjoyed from Typo Magazine based upon an intersection near Cosby, MO. Those of us transplanted to Missouri have often wondered about the alphabetical listing of state highways... which gets more confusing with OO and MM and GG. Below is a just another legend about the imaginative book written by Baum in 1900.
This photo may seem like a trifling literary coincidence until you know the rest of the story.... E.Y. Harburg, the writer of the song "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," had a great aunt who lived in Cosby during his childhood. He visited her every summer and many adventures in the field surrounding her farmhouse. Still, you might not be blamed for thinking that it was just happenstance for Cosby to sit at the intersection of OZ. If you look at the original version of the song, Harburg mentions the town by name several times. Hollywood producers and later historians were baffled by the lyrics, until you are pointed to where the changes in the song were made and then you can detect the mentioning of the author's beloved home-away-from-home.
"If ever, oh ever, a wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one, be Cosby Cosby Cosby Cosby Cosby 'cause... because of the wonderful things he does."

1 comment:

April said...

I have a friend who lives just down the road from this intersection!