Sunday, December 09, 2007

MARGARET HAMILTON'S BIRTHDAY




The lyrics to that wonderful song "Young At Heart" has a line which reads "And if you should survive to one hundred and five. Think of all you'll derive, just by being alive". Well, Margaret Hamilton, aka, The Wicked Witch of The West in the MGM classic movie "The Wizard of Oz" may not have survived actually to the age of one hundred and five, but she most certainly has achieved that in all of our hearts. I adored her. I thought she had more class than many. Today would have been her One Hundred and fifth birthday! She is loved and endeared by so many fans still even today! Not even her roles as Cora, the Maxwell House housewife spokes lady surpass the fame she gained as a misunderstood green witch. And just think, the creator the Witch character, Mr. L. Frank Baum only created a minor character of her in the original book. Of course, take a look at how that witch character is endeared now. Margaret would have been happy. Lyman Frank Baum would be simply beside himself. This kind and good author was an absolute failure in his lifetime. He went totally bankrupt and lost just about everything- several times. He had never intended to write any more than one Oz story. Well so much for what we plan! Because the children of the world had different ideas. He was inundated with letters from them "More Oz!" And dear Margaret Hamilton who had wonderful memories but she very bad experiences while making the movie, never dreamed that she would forever be famous because of that ONE movie role oh so long ago. I wrote a musical back in the 1980's that depicted this entire scene. I think Margaret and L. Frank Baum would be oh so happy to see that the Land Of Oz is as popular today as it was back then. Well, it rained like hell here over night and I go to work later. being a manager is certainly different than i expected it to be. Today my youthful employees are as independent as hell. They want things their way and are willing to walk away (in unison, if necessary) if they can't. Well, I must be smart. this is Christmas, the busiest season of all for retail. I must bide my time and not allow my own pride to act. I will get more with sugar than vinegar any day!

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