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Most writers go by their real name. From Dickens to Dostoevsky, Alcott to Asimov, the lion’s share of all-time greats have published their novels, stories, plays, and poems under true-to-life bylines. But not all of them. Many distinguished men and women of letters have used pseudonyms to accompany their works, and some are so ubiquitous that the public may not even know they’re a pen name. Here are five of the most notable cases and the stories behind them.

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens went by many names. The author and humorist published a number of letters as Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass and a novel about Joan of Arc as Sieur Louis de Conte. There continues to be debate about the meaning behind “Mark Twain,” with some even suggesting that it involves his bar tab, but the most widely accepted theory involves the same Mississippi riverboats he made famous in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The precise etymology relates to the practice of depth sounding. “Twain” is an old way of saying “two,” and the phrase “by the mark twain” means that the mark on the rope suggests a depth of two fathoms. (A “fathom” is a maritime measurement that means six feet, so two fathoms equals 12 feet.) According to Twain — or, rather, Clemens — himself, he wasn’t the one who came up with the name: “Mark Twain was the nom de plume of one Captain Isaiah Sellers, who used to write river news over it for the New Orleans Picayune. He died in 1863 and as he could no longer need that signature, I laid violent hands upon it without asking permission of the proprietor’s remains. That is the history of the nom de plume I bear.”

Toni Morrison

Not everyone with a pen name is happy about it. Case in point: Toni Morrison, née Chloe Ardelia Wofford. She started going by her saint’s name, Anthony, after converting to Catholicism at the age of 12, and the shorter “Toni” caught on soon after. Morrison, meanwhile, was her husband’s last name — but she’d already divorced him by the time she began her writing career. According to a 2012 New York Magazine profile, “to this day, she deeply regrets leaving that now world-famous name on her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in 1970.”

“Wasn’t that stupid?” she said. “People who call me Chloe are the people who know me best. Chloe writes the books.” She considered Chloe her true self, while Toni was the acclaimed author and Nobel laureate who did the press tours, the speeches, the “legacy and all of that.”

J.K. Rowling

Even as a muggle, J.K. Rowling has always had a few tricks up her sleeve when it comes to writing under an assumed name. And while it’s true that her real name is Joanne Rowling, the Harry Potter author doesn’t actually have a middle name. She chose J.K. because her publishers, fearful that the apparent target audience for a series about witchcraft and wizardry would be less inclined to read something written by a woman, asked her to use two initials. The “K” in this case stands for Kathleen, the first name of her paternal grandmother.

It doesn’t end there. After the enormous success of Harry Potter, Rowling wanted to try her hand at a different genre. She did so by publishing The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith in 2013, hopeful that her new endeavor could succeed on its own merits rather than ride Harry Potter’s coattails. And though the detective novel was warmly received by critics, it wasn’t until some amateur sleuths uncovered its true authorship that sales skyrocketed. Rowling — who has faced controversy and criticism recently for her transphobic stance — has said that she chose the name in honor of Robert Kennedy, a personal hero of hers, and has written four more books in the series as Galbraith.

George Orwell

Unlike many other pseudonymous writers, George Orwell isn’t especially well known as such. Best known for Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, he was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 and opted for a pen name prior to the publication of his 1933 memoir Down and Out in Paris and London. It’s a powerful account of his time as an impoverished laborer in the two capital cities, and Orwell opted to publish under a pen name out of fear that it would embarrass his family. Several other options were considered: X, P.S. Burton, Kenneth Miles, and H. Lewis Allways. “George Orwell” won out both because he considered it a “good round English name” and because it evoked the River Orwell in England’s Suffolk County, which he lived near at the time and was extremely fond of.

Stephen King

The master of horror has published 61 novels, from Carrie and It to The Shining and Pet Sematary, but only 54 of them are under his real name. The remaining seven are credited to Richard Bachman, King’s longtime nom de plume. Dating back to 1977, when the first of these Bachman works was released, the reasoning was simple: King was too prolific for his publishers. Conventional wisdom at the time, according to the FAQ page on his website, was that “one book a year was all the public would accept” and adopting a pen name “made it possible for me to do two books in one year.”

Before settling on Richard Bachman, King was originally partial to a name that “had gotten out on the grapevine” and was therefore unusable: Gus Pillsbury. His pen name is a combination of Richard Stark, one of whose novels King had on his desk while making his decision, and the band Bachman Turner Overdrive, whose song “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” was playing at that same fateful moment.

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Our lives are full of little mysteries. Why is the week seven days long? Why aren’t you supposed to put your elbows on the table? Why does toothpaste make orange juice taste terrible? And then there’s every kid’s favorite: Why is the sky blue? We’ve rounded up the answers to some of these quotidian questions, as well as a few weirder head-scratchers, from around the website. Reading the results should arm you with some answers as you go about your day — and help you prepare for the next time you encounter a curious kid.

Why Are Movie Previews Called “Trailers”?

Movie previews are called “trailers” because they were originally shown after the movie. In the early days of moviegoing, you didn’t just buy a ticket for one feature-length film and leave once the credits started rolling. You were instead treated to a mix of shorts, newsreels, cartoons, and, eventually, trailers — which, per their name, played after the movie rather than before — with people coming and going throughout the day. The idea for trailers came from Nils Granlund, who in addition to being a business manager for movie theaters worked as a producer on Broadway, which explains why the first trailer was actually for a play: 1913’s The Pleasure Seekers. Today there are production houses that exclusively make trailers and are handsomely rewarded for their efforts, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars.

Why Does Catnip Make Cats High?

About 70% of cats are susceptible to the intoxicating effects of nepetalactone, the active compound in catnip. One whiff and these kitties are temporarily reduced to drooling, meowing messes, often rolling around in or rubbing their faces on the catnip source. That’s because nepetalactone is a volatile organic molecule that binds to receptors in a cat’s nose, stimulating neurons that activate the olfactory bulb, amygdala, hypothalamus, and other areas of the brain, causing a euphoric effect. The buzz seems to wear off after 10 to 15 minutes, leaving cats extremely chill thereafter.

Why Do We Say “the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread”?

In 1928, when inventor Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, first released his bread loaf-slicing invention, the advertisement claimed it was “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.” Riffing on the theme, customers began to compare all later inventions to his, and the modern idiom evolved from there.  

Why Do Brides Wear White?

Walk through any bridal shop and it’s obvious that white wedding dresses are the norm, but that wasn’t always the case. Historically, brides often repurposed their best dress as their wedding gown, and most were not white — specifically because white was exceptionally difficult to keep clean prior to modern washing machines and stain removers. Queen Victoria, who wore a lacy white gown at her 1840 wedding in place of the then-popular red, is often credited for popularizing bridal white (though Mary, Queen of Scots wore white during her 1558 Notre Dame wedding, and many lesser-known royals did before Victoria’s reign). Within a decade of Victoria’s wedding, dressmakers and etiquette books had run with the idea that white was virginal and pure, with the popular Godey’s Lady’s Book writing that a white dress was “an emblem of the innocence and purity of girlhood, and the unsullied heart which she now yields to the keeping of the chosen one.”

Why Is a Week Seven Days?

The seven-day week is a timekeeping oddity. Unlike days, months, and years, the week doesn’t align with any celestial reality, and it doesn’t divide elegantly into existing periods of time. For example, there aren’t 52 weeks in an average year — there are 52.1428571429. So how did this happen? Babylonians, the ancient superpower of Mesopotamia, put a lot of stock in the number seven thanks to the seven observable celestial bodies in the night sky — the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This formed the seven-day week, which was adopted by the Jewish people, who were captives of the Babylonians in the sixth century BCE. Eventually, it spread to ancient Greece and elsewhere thanks to the battle-happy Macedonian Alexander the Great. Efforts have been made throughout history to reform the seven-day week, but this oddball unit of time has become ingrained in many religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, rendering any sort of tweak pretty unlikely.

Why Is the Sky Blue?

Think about the atmosphere as a prism. In a prism, white light refracts through its polished surfaces and separates into the colors of the rainbow. The sun produces white light, so when its light travels through the atmosphere, it refracts a rainbow of colors. Each color comes from an electromagnetic wave. While red has the longest, slowest wavelength, blue and violet move in quick, short waves. As these colors pass through the atmosphere, they oscillate charged particles in air molecules like oxygen and nitrogen. Blue and violet are scattered in all directions at around 10 times the efficiency of red light, so they get the highest coverage area in our sky. Our eyes are more sensitive to blue than violet, which is why we see the sky as blue.

Why Is It Considered Rude to Point at Another Person?

When assisting theme park guests, Disney employees are trained to point with two conjoined fingers, index and middle. While the act reportedly doubles as a nod to Walt Disney’s smoking, the larger explanation is that standard pointing is considered rude in numerous cultures — especially if aimed at another person. A perception that dates back to Shakespeare’s time suggests pointing brings unwanted attention to the recipient, implying that they’ve committed a wrong. Repeated pointing in Japan can even instigate hostility. And figurative “finger-pointing” is defined as “making explicit and often unfair accusations of blame.” In situations where you feel compelled to point, it is kinder to use an open palm, flight attendant-style.      

Is the “Five-Second Rule” Real?

Most people know the “five-second rule”: the idea that if food that’s fallen on the floor has been there less than five seconds, it’s still acceptable to eat. No one knows the origins of this questionable rule — and plenty of people think it’s kind of gross — but that hasn’t stopped anyone from picking up a dropped Oreo and shouting “five-second rule!” before.

Actual scientists have devoted time and resources to testing the five-second rule. And surprisingly, it’s not an entirely bogus theory — depending on the cleanliness of the floor. To be clear, no scientist has gone on record recommending that you eat dropped food. However, a science experiment conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign proved that as long as the food was picked up within the five-second time limit, the presence of microorganisms on the dropped food was minimal. However, the experiment was conducted after first sanitizing the flooring, and it only applied to hard flooring like tile and wood, which are less likely to serve as an incubator for pathogens. No testing was conducted on carpeting and other soft surfaces, which can hold moisture and become breeding grounds for bacteria. In any case, it’s definitely not recommended to blindly follow the five-second rule. You have no way of knowing which pathogens are on your floor, so unless you regularly disinfect, it’s best to play it safe and follow another rule: When in doubt, toss it out.

Why Is It So Cold on Airplanes?

Passengers often complain about the cold temperature in airplane cabins. Flight staff will provide passengers with a blanket, but they don’t ever increase the heat. That’s because the temperature on an aircraft has been set in a very intentional way — and it’s for your safety.

A study by ATSM International found that people were more likely to faint on an aircraft than on the ground due to a condition called hypoxia. The pressurized environment of an airplane cabin can prevent our body from getting enough oxygen, which causes fainting. The warmer the temperature onboard the aircraft, the more likely this is to happen. To prevent passengers from passing out, airlines intentionally lower the cabin temperature. While this might be slightly uncomfortable, it’s much safer for your body.

Why Is New York Called “the Big Apple”?

Before it was used to refer to the city that never sleeps, “big apple” was an idiom used to mean a very big deal, an object of great desire or big dreams. The first time New York City was referred to as a “big apple” in print may have been in 1909, when American journalist Edward S. Martin wrote in his book The Wayfarer in New York that those in the Midwest are “apt to see in New York a greedy city … it inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.” The phrase doesn’t seem to have been intended as a nickname, however.

It was actually a horse-racing column published by the New York Morning Telegraph that popularized the term. “The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There’s only one Big Apple. That’s New York,” racing journalist John J. Fitz Gerald wrote in a 1924 column eventually called “Around the Big Apple.” However, Fitz Gerald apparently first heard the term from two Black stable hands in New Orleans. As etymologist Michael Quinion explains, “the Big Apple was the New York racetracks … the goal of every aspiring jockey and trainer … for those New Orleans stable hands the New York racing scene was a supreme opportunity, like an attractive big red apple.” The expression was later further popularized by jazz musicians in the 1920s and 1930s, then picked up in the 1970s by Charles Gillett, president of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, who began a tourism campaign around the slogan.

Why Do They Mist Produce at the Grocery Store?

Many grocery stores display produce in open cases fitted with tiny jets to periodically bathe the veggies in a cool mist. (Some supermarkets even pipe in the sound of thundering rain to add to the rainy vibe.) The purpose behind misting is not to keep produce clean or extend its shelf life — it’s a clever way for grocers to make the fruits and vegetables look fresher and healthier so consumers purchase more. Water clinging to leafy greens also adds weight, which increases revenue for the store when vegetables are sold by the pound.

Ironically, misting actually shortens produce’s shelf life because water allows bacteria and mold to take hold. Misted veggies will likely not last as long in your fridge as those that weren’t misted in the produce aisle — which is another, perhaps sneakier, way to get you to buy produce more often.

What’s the Difference Between a Couch and a Sofa?

Though usually used interchangeably, these are technically two different pieces of furniture — and the distinction lies in the words themselves. “Couch” comes to us from French, namely coucher — “to lie down” — whereas we have the Arabic word suffah to thank for “sofa.” In the most traditional sense, a sofa would be a wooden bench that comes complete with blankets and cushions and is intended for sitting. eBay’s selling guide used to distinguish between the two by defining a couch as “a piece of furniture with no arms used for lying.” Though it may be a distinction without a difference these days, purists tend to think of sofas as a bit more formal and couches as something you’d take a nap on and let your pets hang out on.

Why Is Pink Considered a Color for Girls, and Blue for Boys?

Originally, it was actually the other way around. For much of the 19th century, most infants and toddlers wore white dresses. Dresses facilitated diaper-changing, and white cotton could easily be cleaned with bleach. But around 1900, childcare experts began to push for a greater distinction between little girls and boys, amid fears that boys were growing up “weaker” and “lazier” than their fathers had. Many U.S. publications and stores responded in part by recommending pink clothing for boys and blue clothing for girls, although some also recommended the opposite color scheme. According to Dressmaker magazine, “Blue is reserved for girls as it is considered paler, and the more dainty of the two colors, and pink is thought to be stronger (akin to red).”

But around World War II, everything changed. Soon pink was heavily marketed as the preferred color for girls, and blue for boys. It’s not entirely clear what led to the switch, and the colors chosen were somewhat arbitrary — the focus was primarily on creating clothes specific for each child in an attempt to curb hand-me-downs, and thus sell more product. Once the 1950s began, hospitals wrapped newborns in pink or blue blankets, based on their sex (today’s standard blankets contain pink and blue stripes).

What Does the “QR” in “QR Code” Mean?

QR codes are those pixelated-looking black-and-white squares that you can scan with your phone for more information about something, whether it’s an advertisement or a piece of art. They’ve become ubiquitous, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic popularized contactless menus and payment. However, they’re very rarely called by their full name. “QR” actually stands for “quick response,” and the codes can be used to share far more than a link. If you wanted to, you could share an entire book with one code. The technology was first developed by a Toyota subsidiary in the mid-’90s as a way to track auto parts, but QR codes found new life as a way to direct smartphone users from a physical space to a digital one. They used to require a special reader, but nowadays, most smartphone camera apps will read QR codes on their own.

Why Are You Supposed to Keep Your Elbows Off the Table?

In the Old Testament, the Book of Ecclesiastes includes the line, “Be ashamed of breaking an oath or a covenant, and of stretching your elbow at dinner.” Many have translated this directive as a warning to keep elbows off the table at all times. Table manners were originally introduced to prevent mealtime fights, with the knife and fork establishing each eater’s boundary lines. Today, the elbow rule stops people from slouching or accidentally leaning their arms into food dishes. Moreover, when breaking bread with a group, placing your elbows on the table blocks those on either side of you from making eye contact.

Why Do You Cry When You Cut Onions?

There’s no need to cry over spilled milk, but what about chopped onions? You can thank a chemical combination of enzymes and sulfur for the tears that well up while you make dinner. Onions use sulfur to make a mixture of amino acids and enzymes during the growing process. The acids and enzymes are separated and stored in different regions of the onion’s cells, which are called vacuoles. While the onion remains whole, the amino acids and enzymes in the onion’s cells remain separated. Once you cut into the onion, however, everything mixes together. When the two substances are combined, they form a chemical known as syn-Propanethial-S-oxide, or lachrymatory factor (LF). LF is an irritant that’s easily vaporized when it reacts with the air.

LF isn’t strong enough to affect tougher parts of your body such as your skin, but it can irritate more sensitive regions. As the vapors waft up toward your face, your eyes will begin to sting. Your body — sensing the irritant — will release a torrent of tears in an attempt to wash the chemicals from your eyes. Luckily, LF can’t do any serious damage, even in high quantities.

Producing LF is the onion’s way of defending against anything that may want to eat it. As soon as an animal bites into the root, its eyes start to burn and it’s reminded to stay away from onions. Unfortunately for onions, humans are persistent.

Why Is February the Shortest Month of the Year?

February has fewer days because of the superstitions of ancient Rome. In the late eighth century BCE, Romans — including their king Numa Pompilius — held a superstition that even numbers were somehow unlucky. Although he created a version of a 12-month calendar, Pompilius realized there was no mathematical way for every month to have an odd number of days and for the total number of days in the year to also be odd. So while the other months were either 29 or 31 days long, February became the unlucky month to have only 28 days, making Pompilius’ calendar the apparently-less-scary number of 355.

In 45 BCE, Caesar — disregarding Pompilius’ fear of even numbers — added days to a number of other months, but not February. Some experts believe Caesar didn’t want to disrupt the important festivals that took place in that month and so he just let it be. But with the introduction of the Julian calendar, February did receive a consolation prize in the form of an additional day every four years.

What Are the Tallest Beings in the World?

With a narrow range stretching for about 450 miles, from Big Sur to southern Oregon, coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are the tallest living beings in the world — and one in particular surpasses them all. Named after a titan in Greek mythology and found in California’s Redwood National Park, Hyperion stands 380 feet tall. That’s 65 feet taller than London’s Big Ben and 10 feet taller than the previous record holder, another coast redwood.

Why Do Cats “Make Biscuits”?

A nursing kitten often presses its mom’s belly with its front paws; this kneading action stimulates the flow of milk. But many full-grown cats continue the behavior, “making biscuits” on pillows, soft blankets, towels, or their owners. Veterinarians think adult cats knead when they’re feeling safe and relaxed and to show affection to humans and other cats. The act of kneading can also calm cats, like a form of feline self-care. Making biscuits may also be a sign that a cat is marking its territory with the scent glands located between its toes.

Are Sweet Potatoes Really Potatoes?

Sweet potatoes and common potatoes share part of a name, but the two are entirely different plants — and sweet potatoes aren’t even potatoes. Sweet potatoes belong to the Convolvulaceae family, a group of flowering plants that’s also called the morning glory family. Potatoes belong to the nightshade (Solanaceae) family, and are cousins to peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. Both species get their name from an Indigenous Caribbean term, batata, which eventually morphed into the English “potato.” By the 1740s, “sweet” was added to the orange-fleshed tuber’s name to differentiate the two root crops.

Then there are yams. Although they’re often served interchangeably with sweet potatoes, this third root crop is biologically unrelated to either sweet potatoes or common potatoes. These tubers belong to the Dioscoreacea family, a group of flowering plants usually cultivated in tropical areas. Luckily, you don’t have to know their scientific classification to distinguish between the two non-spuds at the grocery store: Sweet potatoes have tapered ends and relatively smooth skin, while true yams are generally larger with rough bark and a more cylindrical shape. At most U.S. grocery stores, what you’re seeing labeled as a yam is probably actually a sweet potato.

Does the Color Red Really Make Bulls Mad?

No — bulls can’t actually see the color. As is the case with other cattle and grazing animals such as sheep and horses, bulls’ eyes have two types of color receptor cells (as opposed to the three types that humans have) and are most attuned to yellows, greens, blues, and purples. This condition, a kind of colorblindness known as dichromatism, makes a bullfighter’s muleta (red cape) look yellowish-gray to the animals.

So why are bulls enraged by the sight of matadors waving their muletas? The answer is simple: motion. The muleta isn’t even brought out until the third and final stage of a bullfight. The reason it’s red is a little unsavory — it’s actually because the color masks bloodstains. In 2007, the TV show MythBusters even devoted a segment to the idea that bulls are angered by the color red, finding zero evidence that the charging animals care what color is being waved at them and ample evidence that sudden movements are what really aggravate the poor creatures.

Why Do We Say “Knock on Wood”?

In the United States, we say “knock on wood” (in the U.K., it’s “touch wood”) in a variety of situations, like after mentioning something we hope will happen. It’s a means of averting misfortune, making sure we don’t “tempt fate.” Some explanations for the practice mention a Celtic or otherwise pagan association with tree spirits, the idea being that knocking on wood (particularly once-sacred trees like oak and ash) might awaken these deities and confer their protection. Others note a Christian association with the wood of the cross.

But the origins of this practice are probably much more modern. In A Dictionary of English Folklore, scholars Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud note that the earliest known reference to the practice only dates to 1805. It seems linked to 19th-century children’s games like “Tiggy Touchwood” — types of tag in which children were safe from capture if they touched something wooden, like a door or tree. In his book The Lore of the Playground, Roud writes: “Given that the game was concerned with ‘protection,’ and was well known to adults as well as children, it is almost certainly the origin of our modern superstitious practice of saying, ‘Touch wood.’ The claim that the latter goes back to when we believed in tree spirits is complete nonsense.”

Why Does Toothpaste Make Orange Juice Taste Terrible?

Most of us have endured this unpleasant situation at least once. The culprit is a toothpaste ingredient called sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which produces the foam that builds during vigorous brushing. Unfortunately, SLS also temporarily blocks the tongue’s sweet receptors, while simultaneously destroying the compounds in saliva that suppress our bitter receptors. The result is a double-whammy for our sensitive taste buds, which leaves us to taste only the unsavory citric acid from what would otherwise be a refreshing drink.

Where Did the Phrase “Devil’s Advocate” Come From?

The term “devil’s advocate” is a familiar label for someone who argues a position they don’t agree with just to make a point, but its origins are more literal than you might expect. In 1587, Pope Sixtus V established the position of advocatus diaboli, or “devil’s advocate,” as part of the process of beatification or canonization — aka becoming a saint. The devil’s advocate was the church’s skeptic, picking apart stories of reported “miracles” and more to argue against someone’s sainthood. The advocate had to be present for any part of the sainthood process to be considered valid. However, the title was primarily a popular moniker — the position’s official designation was the “promoter of the faith,” or promotor fidei.

What’s the Most Expensive Item Ever Made by Humans?

The most expensive movie ever made is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which cost a whopping $410 million. That’s a pretty penny to be sure, but it’s less than half a percent of the most expensive human-made object in history: the International Space Station, whose price tag comes in at $100 billion. Launched in 1998 after more than a decade of careful (and often difficult) planning, the ISS is a collaboration between five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). It has been continuously occupied since 2000, with a full-time international crew conducting microgravity experiments and other research.

Feature image credit: Illustration by Diana Gerstacker; Photo by Jake Hills/ Unsplash

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The Wizard of Oz — L. Frank Baum’s book and the beloved 1939 film it inspired — is a quintessentially American fairy tale. It features the hallmarks of a Brothers Grimm story, with a young adventurous child bumping into wizards, witches, and talking animals. Yet it transports these classic conventions to scenes of middle America, a place of scarecrows, prairies, and hot air balloons. All of this imagery is neatly wrapped into a reflection on the American dream, or the idea that brains, heart, and courage — combined with hard work — can help you reach what you desire. Even when that desire is simply to go back home.

The Wizard of Oz Canon Is Huge

Author L. Frank Baum wrote 14 books about the magical land of Oz, beginning with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, and continuing with later titles such as Ozma of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, and Rinkitink in Oz. Many of the novels were published in yearly installments around Christmas. After Baum died in 1919, a new children’s author — Ruth Plumly Thompson — took up the mantle and wrote another 21 Oz sequels.

Baum May Have Named Oz After a Piece of Office Furniture

“I have a little cabinet letter file on my desk in front of me,” Baum told the St. Louis Republic in 1903. “I was thinking and wondering about a title for my story, and I had settled on ‘Wizard’ as part of it. My gaze was caught by the gilt letters on the three drawers of the cabinet. The first was A-G; the next drawer was labeled H-N; and on the last were the letters O-Z. And Oz it at once became.” (Some researchers suspect Baum was joking here.)

Many Places Claim To Be Home of the Original Yellow Brick Road

In the late 19th century, yellow brick roads were relatively common. (The color is caused by a low iron content, plus high levels of lime.) So it’s no surprise that many places claim to have inspired Oz’s most famous roadway. Purported locations include Peekskill, New York (where Baum attended a military academy) and Ithaca, New York (where Baum’s wife, Maud, attended college). Baum’s son argued the fictional path took after the cobblestone roads of Holland, Michigan, where his father summered. Other claimants include Dallas, Chicago, and Aberdeen, South Dakota.

The Character of Dorothy Was Particularly Special to the Baum Family

It’s likely that Baum named the book’s protagonist after his niece, Dorothy Louise Gage, who died in infancy in late 1898. Baum’s wife, Maud, adored the little girl and was so upset by the loss that she needed medical help upon returning from the funeral. It’s believed Baum wrote Dorothy into the story as a way of keeping his niece’s memory alive.

The Oz Universe Predicted Cellular Phones

Baum wrote dozens of other novels and short stories, and he had a knack for predicting an impressive number of inventions in his books: the taser, digital calendars, and defibrillators to name a few. In his novel The Master Key, a character even discovers an augmented reality gadget that predates Pokémon GO by a century. But Baum’s most notable prediction comes in Ozma of Oz:

Shaggy … drew from his pocket a tiny instrument which he placed against his ear.

Ozma, observing this action in her Magic Picture, at once caught up a similar instrument from a table beside her and held it to her own ear. The two instruments recorded the same delicate vibrations of sound and formed a wireless telephone, an invention of the Wizard.

The Tin Man Contains Political Overtones

The book and movie contain other topical references often lost on modern audiences. The book’s Tin Woodman, for example, was a trope in political cartoons of the late 19th century. These “tin people” were a political allegory criticizing the abuses of unfettered capitalism: A symbol of the human worker treated as a machine. While it’s no surprise that Baum evoked imagery commonly seen in mass media at the time, it is surprising how pointed his commentary is. After all, what does the Tin Man — a figure that represents the dehumanization of industry — desperately search for? A heart.

The Book Contains a Slick Sales Pitch

Before he was writing books and short stories, Baum was working as a traveling salesman for his family’s oil company. The corporation’s No. 1 product was an axle oil called “Baum’s Castorine,” which was advertised as being “so smooth it makes the horses laugh.” It’s in this context that the Tin Woodman (or Tin Man, as he’s called in the film) was likely invented. When Dorothy meets the Tin Man, he badly needs a can of lubricating oil. It’s almost as if Baum couldn’t help himself from making one last sales pitch!

The Wizard Was Partly Inspired by an American Robber Baron

The Baum family did not get along with John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, whose unscrupulous attempts to squeeze his competitors out of business were, to say the least, not appreciated. As a result, Baum loved poking fun at the oil tycoon. The character of the Wizard, in some ways, is actually a reflection of Rockefeller: A terrifyingly powerful figure who possesses an outsize control of the world around him (but who is, when all is said and done, merely human).

In fact, the wizard’s appearance — “a little old man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face” — may be a cruel joke pointed at Rockefeller, who suffered extremely embarrassing hair loss from alopecia. Other references to Rockefeller are even more explicit. In an early stage adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a rusty Tim Woodman imagines a world without oil. The Scarecrow replies: “You wouldn’t be as badly off as John D. Rockefeller.”

Oz Went to Broadway Immediately

Baum was determined to turn The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into a stage musical. Starting in 1902 — just two years after the original story’s publication — a wildly successful production would open in Chicago, play on Broadway, and tour across the United States. The stage version, however, departed heavily from Baum’s book. It was aimed at an adult audience and was stuffed with explicit political references. It added new characters, including a waitress and a streetcar operator. Toto was replaced by a cow named Imogene. And the Wicked Witch of the West? She’s nowhere to be seen.

Baum Was a Proto-Disney

Decades before Walt Disney ever dreamt of Disneyland, Baum was already talking about building a magical “Land of Oz” amusement park near San Diego, California. The theme park’s advisory board was reportedly going to be run entirely by children. Baum’s idea never materialized, but an Oz-themed park did exist in North Carolina in the 1970s (and reopens occasionally now).

The 1939 Film Was Not the First Time Oz Had Seen the Silver Screen

In 1910, with the rise of silent film, the Selig Polyscope Company made the first film version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (Watch the 13-minute film here.) Then in 1925, six years after Baum’s death, another silent adaptation was released loosely based on the book. This effort was, by all objective measures, awful — but it did feature Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man, roughly two years before he paired up with Stan Laurel and became a household name.

The 1939 Film Made Many Changes to the Book

The famous 1939 film, produced by MGM, shows significantly more fidelity to Baum’s book. However, there are a few notable discrepancies. In the book, for instance, Oz is a real place. But the movie treats it as a mere dreamscape, a creation of Dorothy’s subconscious. Furthermore, in the book, Dorothy’s magic slippers are silver, but the film team changed the color to a sparkling ruby to take advantage of the still-new Technicolor process.

At First, the Screenwriters Wanted To Eliminate All References to Magic

By the late 1930s, Hollywood had tried producing a handful of fantasy films. Most of them flopped, and some screenwriters worried the same would happen to Wizard of Oz. So, in early scripts, much of the movie’s magical elements were scrapped. The Tin Man, for instance, was transformed into a convict sentenced to wear a tin suit for punishment. Meanwhile, the Scarecrow was a dull human farmhand who was employed to spook birds out of a pasture. Thankfully, the magic returned.

The Makeup Was Toxic

Originally, the role of the Tin Man was to be played by Buddy Ebsen (who later became best known for his role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies). But the actor quickly realized he was allergic to the aluminum dust in his makeup: After just 10 days, he began complaining of aches and shortness of breath and had to be hospitalized. Ebsen wasn’t the only one who had problems with his makeup. The makeup was so poisonous that some actors could not eat once it had been applied. (They opted for a liquid diet, nourishing themselves through straws.)

It Was Impossible To Beat the Heat

The Wizard of Oz was not the first film to use Technicolor. It was, however, shot almost entirely inside a studio, which made the Technicolor process exhausting to work with. To get the colors just right, the set had to be brightly lit — in fact, overlit — which baked the studio to temperatures as high as 100°F. The heat, combined with the heavy costumes and thick makeup, was torturous. (Actor Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, sweat so much under his nearly 100-pound costume that the whole getup had to be placed in an industrial drying bin each night to pull out all the perspiration.) The hot temperature also made it especially frustrating to work with animals like Cairn terrier Toto, who often refused to comply with directions.

The Origin of the Word “Munchkin” Might Have Something To Do With Beer

Nobody is entirely sure where the word “Munchkin” came from, but it’s possibly German in origin. (Baum’s father was of German descent.) It may be a reference to Mȕnchner kindl, a popular symbol of a small robed child that’s seen on Munich’s coat of arms and is commonly found on Bavarian beer steins (it translates as “Munich child”). It also may come from the German word Männchen, which is used to describe a diminutive man.

The Congregation of Little People on Oz Was Unprecedented

Around 120 little people were cast to appear in Oz. Several met their spouses on set. And it’s said that the mass gathering inspired the formation of an influential new advocacy group, now called Little People of America.

That Salacious Rumor About the Munchkins? It Isn’t True

A pervasive rumor suggested that the actors cast as Munchkins engaged in Bacchanalian orgies at their hotel in Culver City. This isn’t true. The gossip was sparked by Judy Garland during a (fully facetious) 1967 interview with Jack Paar, but the smear would haunt many of the actors for the rest of their lives. When asked if the rumors of drunken debauchery were true, actor Jerry Maren said, “That’s a lot of hooey.”

The Original Screening Contained a Lot More Music

The original screening of The Wizard of Oz was two hours long and contained significantly more musical numbers. But after a test run, the production team decided to cut many dance sequences, song reprises, and a performance of “The Jitterbug.” MGM even considered cutting “Over the Rainbow.” (Thankfully, they were talked out of it.)

Some of the Costumes Were Delicious

While many of the costumes were cumbersome (like the Cowardly Lion or the winged monkeys) or required excessive toxic makeup (like the Tin Man or Wicked Witch), some equine members of the cast were pretty pleased with their get-ups. In the “horse of a different color” scene, the special effects that allowed the carriage horse to change from white to purple to red to yellow were achieved by adding Jell-O powder to the horses’ coat. (The horses enjoyed licking it off.)

Also, the Tin Man’s oily tears? That’s actually chocolate syrup.

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Exchanging gifts is one of the oldest forms of human social interaction, one even found in our close primate relatives, the chimpanzees, who give food and stones to one another. But gifting customs and expectations — like what kind of gift to give, when it is appropriate to offer a gift, and whether to anticipate anything in return — are different depending on what culture you belong to. Here are a dozen types of gifts and gifting traditions from around the world.

China — Oranges

Offering someone a pair of mandarin oranges is a New Year’s custom in China. It’s unclear how this tradition started, but it could relate to the similarity of the words for “oranges” and “wealth” in the Cantonese dialect, meaning you are symbolically giving someone wealth to start their year. The color of the oranges is also said to symbolize gold.

Egypt — Double-Wrapping Your Gift

In Egypt, giving gifts to business colleagues is common, with the idea that it ensures a good working relationship in the future. Whether you are gifting a box of sweets or a personalized pen, it’s important that the gift be wrapped well — typically in plain-colored paper first, and then in a bright color like green. (Be careful what colors you use wrapping gifts in some other cultures, though, since different hues can mean different things.)

Russia — Flowers

A common gift in many cultures, flowers are particularly beloved in Russia. But the gift-giver needs to pay close attention to certain aspects of the bouquet, such as the color and number of flowers. Yellow flowers may suggest unfaithfulness or mourning, while calla lilies symbolize death. And rethink that dozen roses: Russians think that an odd number of flowers is most appropriate for happy occasions and reserve even numbers for funerals.

Kenya — Spitting

While spitting on a gift may seem rude to many people, in some cultures, this is a blessing. Among the Maasai of Kenya, spitting is a sign of reverence and is often done to bless a wedding or the birth of a baby, in addition to being used for gifts. But “ceremonial spitting” is known from various times and places — the Bible even says that Jesus touched a man’s tongue with his own saliva to fix his stutter — so extending the idea to “blessing” a gift makes sense.

U.S., U.K., and Canada — Lottery Tickets

Becoming more popular by the year, scratch-off lottery tickets are often given as small gifts in these countries. Tucked into a birthday card or as a “white elephant” contribution, a lottery ticket is inexpensive, with the possibility of being worth quite a bit. But some frown on this idea, saying it could be detrimental to people with addiction issues and even to family harmony, if a gifted ticket wins big.

Ireland — Refusing the Gift

In Ireland, the recipient of a gift may politely decline it at least once, just as they may say no to their host’s offer of a cup of tea or glass of water. But the second or third time the gift is offered, the recipient accepts it. While this tradition may date back to the Great Famine in the mid-19th century — ensuring that one’s host is not putting themselves out by offering you what little they have — the fact that gift refusal is also found in parts of Asia and elsewhere suggests that saying, “Oh, no, I couldn’t, really,” is perhaps more of a worldwide tradition.

Iceland — Books

If reading by the fire while sipping hot chocolate sounds like your ideal evening, Jólabókaflóðið might be your new favorite holiday. The word translates roughly to “Christmas book flood,” as Icelanders exchange books as gifts on Christmas Eve. The tradition began during World War II, although Iceland has a tradition of valuing books and authors that’s far older. Since paper was not rationed during WWII, Icelanders turned to books for gift-giving. Now, Icelandic booksellers put out a “book bulletin” every year that goes to each household in mid-November. On Christmas Eve, everyone begins reading the books they’ve been given right away.

New Zealand — “Utu” and “Koha”

Among the Māori, who are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand), there is a concept called utu, which is the balance or harmony necessary for a functioning society. The exchange of gifts is driven by utu, or the idea that the gift-giver will receive something equivalent. This custom can be seen in action most often when guests bring a small gift or donation (koha) to the host of a party.

Saudi Arabia — Gold and Silk

We may closely associate these two items with the Middle East, but while gold and silk are appropriate gifts for women in Saudi Arabia, the prophet Muhammad said they are forbidden for Islamic men. But Saudis appreciate all kinds of other gifts, typically bringing back souvenirs for family and friends, even from short trips.

Navajo (Diné) — Turquoise

In many of the Indigenous cultures of North America, giving with the assumption the receiver will reciprocate is the norm, and the richest people are those willing to give away everything they own. One example of unique gift-giving can be seen among the Navajo (called Diné in their own language): the laugh celebration. The first time a Navajo baby laughs, they are given a piece of turquoise — and whoever elicits that first real baby giggle is tasked with hosting a feast for the baby and their family.

Fiji — Whale Teeth

The tooth of a sperm whale is called tabua in traditional Fijian culture. The word translates roughly to “sacred,” and the tabua is powerful and significant, often gifted at weddings or used as a peace offering. Although the tabua was never considered currency itself, necklaces made from these whale teeth appear today on the 50 Fijian dollar note.

Ancient Rome — Wax Fruit and Clay Lamps

One of the most anticipated holidays for the ancient Romans was Saturnalia, celebrated annually the week of December 17 to 23. Connected with the winter sowing season, Saturnalia was a time to let loose — even enslaved people were temporarily free to say and do what they wanted. People also gave each other small gifts called sigilla in a “white elephant” kind of game. Sigilla included small wax figurines of various deities or replicas of fruit, as well as ceramic oil lamps, which would have been useful in the darker days of the year. With the rise of Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, many of the traditions of Saturnalia were eventually incorporated into Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.