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Finding Oil in Oz Adapted from Information by the American Oil and Gas Historical Society In 1860, just one year after America’s first commercial oil discovery, Benjamin Ward Baum closed the family barrel- making business to risk his fortunes in the western Pennsylvania oilfields. His son “Frankie” was just four-and-a-half years old at the time. Productive oi l wel ls dri l led near Titusville and Cherry Tree Run brought Benjamin Ward Baum great wealth. “Benjamin recognized a splendid oppor- tunity and joined the crowds who moved in to exploit the oilfields and develop the area. A hundred new wells were drilled every month, ingenious mechanical con- trivances were invented, towns and cities were built,” wrote Katharine M. Rogers in her 2002 book, L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz: A Biography . By 1862, the elder Baum owned Carbon Oil Company, and was a well-established oilman. As a young man, son L. Frank Baum found employment in several of the family ventures. When historian Evan L. Schwartz researched his 2009 book, Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story , he was surprised to learn the role petroleum played in Baum’s life - and that the Tin Man’s oil can trace its roots to Baum’s Castorine Company. “Sometimes, when researching history, you find places where it’s still alive,” said Schwartz. His search for the Tin Man’s mythic oil-can led him back to one particular business from the 1880s. Schwartz was amazed to find the business had survived and was still continuing operations. “So I visited the current location in Rome, New York, and sat down for a peek into the archives with owner Charles Mowry, whose grandfather was one of the investors who bought the company from Frank Baum himself,” Schwartz explained. “The smells of fine lubricant wafted in the air as I perused the collection of historic oil cans and heard the legend of Baum’s magic balms,” he said. As it turned out, Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sold cans of buggy wheel and axle oil for a living before staking his claim to international literary fame. In 1883, Baum and his brother Benjamin started the small business offering lubricants, oils, greases, and “Baum’s Castorine, the great axle oil.” Reporting on the July 9, 1883, opening, the Syracuse Daily Courier newspaper said Baum’s Castorine was a rust-resistant axle grease concoction for machinery, buggies, and wagons. The grease was advertised to be “so smooth it makes the horses laugh.” Baum’s Castorine Company prospered under the leadership of L. Frank Baum as superintendent and chief salesman. “He was a traveling salesman for the company,” noted a 2011 exhibit at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in Michigan. “On one of these trips, while installing a window display for a customer, the idea of the Tin Woodman came to him.” Although the company enjoyed some success, it came to an end after a bookkeeper gambled away all the profits. Baum wrote of Baum’s Castorine Company, “I see no future in it to warrant my wasting any more years of my life in trying to boom it.” Baum sold the business; and in May 1900, published the first of his children’s classics. But what if? As noted by author Schwartz, “What if Frank had never sold oil cans? Would we have never met the heartless Tin Man? And in 1939, why wasn’t Baum’s Castorine given the chance to pony up for some choice product placement?” 4< /*2'3* "& > > > > ,'< ? /2+ '6* /3+6 /3+6 ')1/3- " " !8=2+ /7843 4* 4* ')1/3- !+8 5)7 !8'3*'6* $'2:+ 9((+6 6':+2 $'2:+ 9((+6 !+'87 9((+6 $'2:+ 37+687 #6+8.'3+ $'2:+ 37+687 $'2:+ !56/3- ! ! $'2:+ 4:+6 '71+8 ? !;/:+2 ')1/3- ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 6/)+7 !9(0+)8 "4 .'3-+ %/8.498 48/)+ !@ @ < < < < < 27 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MAY 2017