'Wizard of Oz' museum opens in Cape Canaveral with thousands of movie, book artifacts
Peering at visitors, a meticulously detailed troupe of vintage handcrafted stick puppets greets visitors at The Wizard of Oz Museum: Dorothy with her picnic basket and checkered dress; the shiny chrome Tin Man; a plush tawny Cowardly Lion.
"These are original puppets and the original backdrops that were used in the 1950s and 1960s performances in the Chicago area," mega-collector and museum owner Fred Trust said, gazing at the puppets.
"They're so unique. I obtained them as a whole collection. The Smithsonian contacted me — they wanted to have them," Trust said.
"And I said, 'I'm opening my own museum.' "
The 1939 MGM musical "Wizard of Oz" is regarded as the most-viewed movie in television history. But there are only a handful of Oz-themed museums in the United States, geographically scattered across the country.
Trust — who fell in love with the story as an elementary student in Azerbaijan — is showcasing more than 2,000 artifacts from his sprawling, world-class collection inside the newly opened The Wizard of Oz Museum on State Road A1A in Cape Canaveral.
Journey through the Land of Oz
Inside Trust's museum is a Land-of-Oz cornucopia of rare and unique items: board games, figurines, masks, plates, autographed photos, costumes, plush dolls, posters, sheet music, even vintage collectible soaps shaped like the movie characters.
The museum portion of the 4,500-square-foot facility opened in late October. Last week — steps from a life-sized Wicked Witch of the West and trio of flying monkeys — an adjacent wing opened with a video-projection Vincent van Gogh immersive experience.
The Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony at The Wizard of Oz Museum starting at 10 a.m. Feb. 11. The museum is located at 7099 N. Atlantic Ave., just south of Cape Canaveral City Hall.
Visitors who dress up on Feb. 11 like one of the six "Wizard of Oz" main characters — Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North — will receive free admission. Everyone else will get half-price admission. A costume contest will occur.
"I'm especially pleased that he was able to open a museum in Florida, because that part of the country is a little bit underserved," said Jane Albright, president of the International Wizard of Oz Club.
“Florida is an area where anybody down there would have had to travel an awfully long way to get their Wizard of Oz fix," said Albright, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She boasts about 30,000 items in her Oz memorabilia collection.
“Any new Oz museum is, of course, exciting for fans. I'm sure I will not be the only person looking to be able to make a trip down there. They become pilgrimages for us," Albright said.
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In February, news broke that New Line Cinema is planning a "Wizard of Oz" remake directed by Nicole Kassell, executive producer of HBO's "Watchmen."
An avid bookseller, Trust highlights the significance of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," its 13 sequels and 26 subsequent Oz books — which feature hundreds of characters.
"Ninety-nine percent of the people have no idea about the books," Trust said.
"The idea here of the museum is to add that historical value, and show that there is more to the stories than the movie," said Trust, who displays covers of the 40 Oz books in his lobby-gift shop.
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The Wizard of Oz Museum features artifacts arranged in cabinets dating chronologically from 1850 to the 1980s. Visitors can scan QR codes to hear explanatory narration.
Of note: Trust owns the first copy of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" on record. He said he bought the book, which was printed on May 23, 1900, at an auction about 15 years ago. Signed by Baum, Trust said the novel is worth $250,000 — but he considers the book "priceless."
"This is the first known copy in existence. It's a pre-publication copy. The second copy that is known was given by Frank Baum to his mom, that is right now in the New York Public Library in the rare books section," Trust said.
Other museum highlights include:
An August 1938 copy of the movie script.
A waist-length reddish fox-raccoon jacket owned by Judy Garland, monogrammed with her initials JG.
An oil painting by artist Natalia Babi of China Girl from the 2013 Disney movie "Oz the Great and Powerful." Trust said he paid more than $100,000 for the painting.
Trust has displayed his rare books and memorabilia at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; the Land of Oz theme park on Beech Mountain in North Carolina; and Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
He has also donated books to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas.
“Fred has been a dealer selling rare Oz books to the Oz book-collecting community now for decades. And has a terrific reputation for that business. So I've heard of him for years, and I’ve purchased from him for my own collection," Albright said.
'Something tremendous for the community'
Trust believes his museum's Cape Canaveral location will attract visitors from nearby Port Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Center. Albright noted that The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios featured "The Wizard of Oz," but that Orlando attraction closed in 2017.
“Brevard County and the Cocoa Beach area are very diverse in what we have to offer, unlike many communities that we know and travel to. (This) is just really attractive, just a really neat place to go to and see the history," said Jimmy Lane, president and CEO of the Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“I think it will just be a huge attraction, something absolutely tremendous for the community," Lane said.
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Trust fell in love with "Wizard of Oz" while attending elementary school in his native Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic. One of his teachers would read five to 10 minutes of a translated version by Russian author Aleksandr Volkov at the end of her lessons, kindling his interest.
"They presented it as a Russian story. When I got to the United States, I learned this is Frank Baum's story. And I read it — and got hooked," Trust said.
Trust came to the United States in 1980, when he was 20. A software developer, he went on to manage software programs for Visa, T. Rowe Price and CitiFinancial before retiring.
He and his wife, Palina, moved to Suntree in 2020. He said he amassed his expansive Oz collection by reinvesting vintage book sales the past 25 years or so — he published a "Wizard of Oz" books price guide in 2009, then updated and expanded it last year.
Trust said he has sold more than 10,000 copies of the Oz books price guide.
The museum's video room measures about 2,000 square feet, features 30 laser projectors, and showcases immersive, ethereal van Gogh video and music. Trust said his facility is unique because it is permanent, not a traveling exhibit.
Pixel Rain Digital, a St. Petersburg firm, is developing a "Wizard of Oz" immersive experience — including a moving yellow brick road and a tornado scene — that should be finished in two to three months. The company created a multidimensional “cloud room” for the "Magritte & Dalí" special exhibition at The Dalí Museum in 2018-19.
Building off the van Gogh exhibit, Trust hopes to develop similar immersive artistic experiences featuring Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet.
Museum admission is $29.99 for adults and $14.99 for children ages 3 to 12. Daily hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — save Tuesdays, which are 1 to 7 p.m. For information, visit wizardofozflorida.com or call 888-WIZ-OF-OZ.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Wizard of Oz Museum opens in Florida honoring the movie and Frank Baum book
