Appendix A)

I. Regarding General Dates

Though this timeline is considered a ‘Publications Timeline’ and not an ‘Events Timeline’ (which deals with specific dates of various events detailed within the narrative), it is concerned with the actual date of when a story occurs.  This follows the imaginary, but enjoyable ‘Oz-as-History’ suspension of disbelief which says that the authors of the Oz chronicles are really historians detailing actual events that have either been told to them by various Ozian personalities, or which were transmitted to them through dreams, or were somehow conveyed to the author.  Therefore, unless specifically noted or implicitly stated in the narrative or context of several narratives, I generally place a story in the year to two year range PRIOR to its publication date.  It takes approximately around that period of time from when the manuscript is written to the date the publisher actually releases it to the public.  Also, there must be time for the story to have been transmitted to the writer/historian in the Great Outside World.  How quickly that’s done is of course unknown, but for most of the stories involved, we’re going to assume a few days to a few weeks after the events occur. Of course, there are many exceptions to this rule, particularly in the case of the first six Oz stories (which I deal with in Appendix B.), where tales may have been told years after their events had unfolded.  No story (barring certain ‘time-travel’ tales) takes place AFTER it is written, an improbability that would make the author, not an historian, but a prophet.  Laumer wrote some stories which violate this rule, but as is known, his tales were often wildly different from most.

II. Regarding Contradictions, inconsistencies, and lapses of continuity

The real-world fact is that L. Frank Baum never intended to write a sequel to his first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Upon it's massive success, he indeed capitulated to penning one sequel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, which again was not meant to be followed up.  Yet again, with a measure of some reluctance, Baum wrote yet another sequel, Ozma of Oz, this time with the recognition that there would be at least some more stories to follow.  Emerald City of Oz, Baum's sixth Oz book was to be the end.  Not so.  Financial difficulties (due to Baum's laudable, yet unprofitable theatre productions) and his young fans' insatiable hunger for more Oz put Baum in a position where writing more Oz books became one of his only viable options to financial stability.  Thus, prior to his death, L. Frank Baum had written fourteen Oz stories, two directly related books (Sky Island and The Sea Fairies) and several "Borderlands" of Oz books which (following their appearances in Road to Oz) became part of Ozian history (too many to list here -- see the mainline timeline).  Baum's lack of foresight regarding his position as "Royal Historian of Oz" certainly shows.  Contradictions abound, and many a modern writer has written a book or short story explaining away lapses in continuity, omissions or just plain errors.  There is no background 'History of Oz' as there is with Middle Earth and the addition of new stories following Baum's death to the yearly growing saga served to contribute to even more incongruities.  Despite this fact, or because of it, many have developed very personal and strongly entrenched ideas and views regarding their personal visions of Oz, some of which are quite plausible, others which are quite fantastical (even for Oz!).  Nevertheless, for an Oz-as-History perspective, there is quite a reasonable explanation for all the difficult continuity errors that have come into being since 1902's Marvelous Land of Oz.  The following may help to reconcile these issues:

Baum (and by extension later authors) referred to himself as "Royal Historian of Oz" and directly stated that he was recounting actual stories told to him by various Oz personalities.  Based on this:

1. Did the person (s) telling the Royal Historians themselves get all their facts straight?  Could they have been mistaken, misled or simply forgotten certain details?  Oftentimes when one tells an exciting story they or a friend has had, pertinent information is inadvertently left out.  Also, could one of the Ozian personalities relating the stories be prone to: a) exaggeration, b) omissions, c) confusion, d) deception (I regard this one as the least of possibilities as the celebrities of Oz have consistently been portrayed as honest).

2. Might the author himself (herself) have deliberately altered the story in order to: a) appease his younger readers -- either by excising what he felt were unimportant details, or toning down elements that were deemed inappropriate, b) appease his publishers, Reilly & Lee, whose sole concern was to make money.  They did in fact persuade Baum to cut out an entire chapter, the as-yet undiscovered Garden of Meats, because they felt it too gruesome for their 'impressionable' consumers, c) throw in his/her own imaginative elements to 'spice up' the story or exercise creative talents.  For instance, it's an established fact that an editor at Reilly & Lee re-wrote Neill's Wonder City of Oz for some unknown purpose, thereby altering the original story and introducing elements that were quite startling and out-of-character with what was known of Oz and its citizens.

3. Might the authors have unintentionally made mistakes, either forgetting portions of the story, misremembering, or not fully understanding particulars of what they were told.  This would especially be true if the authors received stories by means of dreams, visions, or impressions.

Thus, there are some possible grounds for establishing and understanding those peculiar continuity errors that crop up from time to time.

Appendix B)

Regarding the placement of the early Oz books:  One of the most difficult periods of time to cover for a chronologer of Ozian history is perhaps the very beginning (the beginning in this instance to mean the start of the saga with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz).  L. Frank Baum gave us very little information as to when his stories takes place, how old the characters are, how long a period of time the stories cover...  Now, from an real-world POV, we know that Baum knew he was writing essentially a fairy tale.  In fairy tales, one does not need to follow the tenets of journalism, the famous W’s of Who, What, Where, When, and Why.  No, in a fairy tale, one only need provide stimulating entertainment, and in that he succeeded.  Therefore, certain mysteries were never cleared up by him, and a century later, we are still debating and trying to puzzle out exactly how old Dorothy is, when the Wizard first arrived in Oz, how long he ruled there, the nature of Oz during the Wizards’ reign, the exact status of the witches prior to their destruction, the identities of the witches, the pre-Dorothean history of Oz, the time of Lurline’s enchantment, and various assorted puzzles that – until these sagas are told in print –  cannot be answered by this timeline. 

1) Following the general rule above (see appendix A.) I’ve chosen to start the first book (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) in the latter part of 1898.  Granted it could have occurred in the latter of 1899, or even in 1897, but based on later books, the period of 1898/99 appear as likely dates for Dorothy’s adventures to begin.  Next comes the dilemma of the following five books.  Once again, important details are absent from the narrative.  There is internal evidence, however, to reach the conclusion that not a long span of time occurs between books, particularly following the second (The Marvelous Land of Oz).  I’ll attempt to detail this below:

2) The events in Denslow’s tale, ‘Dorothy’s Christmas Tree’ lends evidence to the notion that Dorothy spent the winter holidays in Oz, therefore did not return to Kansas until the year had changed, likely in January of 1899.  Her second house was well under construction by the time of her return which adds credence to the notion that Dorothy was likely away from Kansas for some time.

3) No one knows exactly how long the Scarecrow sat on the throne of Oz.  It’s apparent that some time must have passed (also Dorothy seems markedly older when she next returns to Oz in Ozma of Oz).  Two years seems appropriate.

4) Also with Ozma of Oz no year is indicated in the text.  But the evidence for this story occurring in 1904 is based on a series of newspaper strips Baum wrote, entitled, "Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz," which ran from August 1904 to February 1905.  Early summer seems to be the indication for the visit of several Ozian personalities to the North American continent.  Their visit likely only lasted a brief time, a month or so perhaps, but the syndicate ran their exploits in small chunks once a week, like a comic strip, taking them till 1905 to complete the adventures (these strips have been reformatted and illustrated into the aptly named Third Book of Oz and more recently in the lavish Visitors from Oz).  Along with this was published the very first Ozmapolitan, an Ozian newspaper (actually a clever promo device Reilly and Lee invented which furthers the notion of believability in Oz).  In the ‘Queer Visitors...’ strips and Ozmapolitan we have the year of 1904 as an established date for when the events of these stories occur.   Also, there is a good indication that Ozma of Oz occurs in the summer months when Dorothy is out of school and able to take a vacation with Uncle Henry to Australia.  Incidentally, a number do not accept 'Queer Visitors' (nor the Ozmapolitan) as being historically viable.  While I understand this position, I personally see no reason to discount it as it is written by Baum himself.  Note: a contradiction was introduced to the narrative when Dick Martin in his 1960 publication (also entitled Visitors from Oz) re-worked the newspaper strips and included a scene of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry meeting the Ozian travelers.

5) This next is even easier... Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz must occur a relatively short time after Ozma of Oz because Dorothy has just departed with Uncle Henry from Australia for California on their way back to Kansas.  Their vacation has likely lasted a month or two, but no longer than that as Dorothy must start school again in September.  Late July or August of 1904 seems appropriate.  Here also would be a good place to discuss the matter of the change in instructions given to Dorothy from Ozma ... At the end of Ozma of Oz, Ozma tells Dorothy that she will check in on her every Saturday morning, and if Dorothy makes a certain sign, Ozma will transport her back to Oz.  However, in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz the instructions have changed and Dorothy says that Ozma checks in on her every day at 4:00.  Dorothy cannot have seen Ozma in between these two adventures (since she was in Australia with Uncle Henry) for her to have changed the instructions.  One answer to this solution might be that Ozma gave Dorothy both instructions.  She would check in on her every day at 4:00 (which would allow time for Dorothy to have returned home from school) and every Saturday morning.  Incidentally, Dorothy Haas, author of two Random House Oz books (Dorothy and the Seven Leaf Clover and Dorothy and Old King Crow), appears to have figured this out as well as she utilizes both circumstances for each of her books.

6) Now it gets a bit tricky again ... Taking only Baum’s books into account, it is possible that Dorothy may have returned to Oz yet again that year to celebrate Ozma’s birthday (detailed in Road to Oz) on August 21st.  However, there are other histories besides Baum’s which I take into account.   Since there have been several stories which are set in this time period (some of the Random House books and Roger Baum’s Dorothy of Oz), it makes sense that the year gap would allow these to fit into this slot.  Therefore, I have given a year span to occur before Dorothy’s return in Road to Oz.  The year span, however, brings forth an interesting question regarding Ozma’s birthday in the prior year -- namely, that it is unlikely Ozma would have celebrated her birthday without Dorothy.  My answer to that is that perhaps Ozma did not celebrate a birthday until the following year.  Whether such mortal customs exist among fairies (to whom time is meaningless) and Ozians cannot be ascertained for certain, and this custom may not have been introduced or adopted until the following year, perhaps even as a political opportunity to meet and greet the rulers and famous personages of the bordering nations that surround Oz.  Finally, to address the issue of the earthquake, some like to equate it with the San Francisco quake of 1906.  While this is certainly feasible, there are some noteworthy variances with the real-world account and the one detailed in Road to Oz.  Also, if one were to take a close look at the Outside World as described by the authors of the Famous Forty, there are also several variances that lead me to believe that the Earth of the Oz books is rather a fictitious one – or to put it in Oz-as-History terms –  an Earth that is similar but quite different than our own.

7) With Dorothy’s final visit to Oz in Emerald City of Oz, she becomes a permanent resident.  Now, regarding her age, there is nothing but indirect and inconclusive evidence.  Based on her characterization and adventures, I would argue that Dorothy would have been no younger than seven in the first book, which ends in early 1900.  Later, we learn that she is younger than Ozma and between the ages of Trot and Betsy Bobbin, and likely no older than twelve or thirteen.  If Emerald City of Oz indeed occurs in 1906 as I've placed it, that puts Dorothy at about twelve or thirteen years old, which by all accounts seems correct.

Appendix C) 

Regarding dates of a curious nature (just a start and by no means complete):

·         1745:  Lurline enchants Oz (as per Magical Mimics in Oz) during the reign of Ozma’s grandfather whom Mombi later gets rid of.  This is likely not Lurline's only enchantment of Oz, and certainly does not preclude the fact that Oz was quasi-magical for hundreds of years prior to this 1745 enchantment.  The nature of the enchantment is not entirely certain but it involves the 'Ozma factor', issues of aging, sickness and death, the nature of the deserts surrounding Oz, and the creation of several strange, magical races that exist in Oz.  The book, The Witch Queen of Oz answers some of these mysteries as does Time Travelers of Oz (exclusive to this site) and The Emerald Mountain of Oz (TBA).  Further exploration which will tie in all of these accounts and more is forthcoming by pre-Dorothean scholar Jeffrey Rester, who will be releasing his findings in an upcoming publication.  Expect some mysteries to be finally answered along with surprising answers in due time.

·         Prior to 1804:  Glinda puts to sleep an unnamed Wicked Witch of the South (Enchanted Apples of Oz).

·         1852:  Glinda puts to sleep Singra, the second Wicked Witch of the South, for a hundred years (Wicked Witch of Oz).

·    ????: It is unknown if Blinkie was one of the Wicked Witches of the South, but if so, it appears that Glinda either banished her to Jinxland or she fled there.

·         1892:  Dorothy Gale is born (A Murder in Oz).  While I don't necessarily accept Snow's Murder in Oz as historically viable, it may in fact prove to be at some point.  At any rate, this date is likely for Dorothy to have been born. 

Appendix D)

Rough history of the Phanfasms

Note: Spoilers apply!!

Rough History of the Phanfasms

Appendix E) 

Miscellaneous notes

The Glass Cat

As per the short story in Oziana 1978: "Beyond the Rainbow,"  the mystery of the Glass Cat is at last solved.  The Wizard had removed her pink brains at the end of Patchwork Girl of Oz and replaced them with clear ones.  Yet in every story involving her since then, she has had her pink brains.  According to the Oziana tale, the Wizard gave her back her pink brains after realizing that all creatures must learn and grow based on their own experiences in Oz.  This notion is likewise supported by Eric Shanower's short story "The Final Fate of the Frogman."

Nikidik and Dr. Pipt

As per Wooglet in Oz, Bungle and the Magic Lanterns of Oz, Unk Nunkie and the White King of Oz, and The Mystery of the Missing Ozma (from Oziana 1984), Dr. Pipt, the Crooked Magician, and Nikidik are two different individuals (according to The Mystery of the Missing Ozma, brothers, although no other source confirms this).  Dr. Pipt was the creator of the Powder of Life and traded it to Mombi back in 1902. Paranoia and a desire to remain anonymous may have led him to adopt the name of a fellow or rival (or brother) magician, Nikidik, instead.  The real Nikidik (about whom Dyna lied in claiming was dead) had in fact traded with Dr. Pipt in the past.  Nikidik was the inventor of the Wishing Pills.  As per The Living House of Oz, Dr. Pipt is no longer straightened, but is back to being crooked and creating his powder of life.  His wife, Margolette, also seems to use three different names for her husband: his original, Dr. Pipt; his assumed name, Dr. Nikidik; and his newly adopted name, Dr Widget.

Appendix F)

Regarding books featuring Santa Clause as a main character: From a purely unbiased standpoint, Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause is part of the mythos that encompasses the larger tapestry of Oz (due to Santa's appearance in Road to Oz), yet there are contradictions to Baum’s later Santa tale as well as Ruth Plumly Thompson’s endeavor.  Likewise, there is not complete consistency between the history presented The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause and the Oz books.  Of course, there is hardly complete consistency among Baum's Oz books, and it was seen fit for the Land of Burzee and the Laughing Valley (said by Baum to be the birthplace and residence of Santa Clause) to be included on Dick Martin’s official ‘Map of the Countries Surrounding Oz’ and several later Oz pastiches.  The inclusion of Christendom's mythology into a fantasy realm that is otherwise non-denominational is frankly one that I find inappropriate and do not include it on my personal view of Oz as represented by the mainline timeline.  I have taken the same stance with stories that present the Greek gods as immortal personages who govern the affairs of mortals and fairies.  Nevertheless, all of these stories are represented in the “Other Histories of Oz” section.  The character that appears in the book Road to Oz is in my interpretation a fairy construct, a doppelganger created for fun, primarily for Dorothy's benefit, and an improvement on Scarecrow and Tinman's efforts in Denslow's "Dorothy's Christmas Tree."  This is an admittedly subjective opinion on my part and one that is based upon my own value system.  As is true of any of the stories on these timelines, readers are free to rearrange whatever they wish in order to create their own personal timelines that suit their particular tastes.  The Royal Timeline of Oz is my own creation and thus does not represent any kind of official stance taken by a body of Oz sages.  For any further questions or discussion, feel free to write me here.