I think I might try something new and different this month with this blog.
Call it “Page Turner Month.”
Sidebar. I’ve just decided. If I ever have a child (which probably won’t happen at this stage of the game) OR, perhaps then, if I would get a pet hamster, I shall name them “Paige Turner.” In honor of this August month.
So here’s my idea. I will write my first blog of the month tomorrow, and then, from each day, I will grab one little tidbit and carry it over into the next day. For instance, yesterday, I mentioned the stone Peridot. Well, if this were the first page-turner day, I might choose Peridot and focus on the fact that it is a green gemstone. Another green gemstone, I might say, is the emerald.
Of course, the first thing I think of when I hear the word “emerald” is the amazing Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz. And one of my favorite players in the story was the often-overlooked Toto.
Did you know that director Mervyn LeRoy considered having a man play Toto? Now. That, to me, would have been a deal-breaker for the film. It would have been terribly awkward and bizarre. I am happy that LeRoy settled on a real dog, who, by the way, earned $125 per week of filming. That little pooch did better than each of the Munchkin actors, who were only paid $50 per week.
Not only that, but I always think of Toto as a boy. In fact, Dorothy says, “Good boy Toto,” I think. Anyway, Toto was played by a girl dog named Terry. As it turns out, cute little Terry was scared of the steam that came out of the Tin Man’s hat. That wasn’t all that she was afraid of. Terry was scared to be in the basket when Miss Gulch took her away from Dorothy. And that gosh darn wind machines that made the tornado scared Terry too.
And then, amidst all the scariness, she suffered a sprained foot after being stepped on by one of the Wicked Witch’s guards. But she was back on the job in a couple of weeks.
It was a good thing the money was decent for Terry because she was billed incorrectly in the credits. It says that “Toto” played the role of “Toto.” But she was in more scenes than anyone except for Dorothy. Those two had the exact number of appearances. Where one went, so did the other. A girl and her dog.
But in the end, it was just another gig for Terry. She was a bit of a star appearing in over 35 other Hollywood movies during her career.
Sadly, Terry died in 1945 at the age of 13. She’s interred in the pet burial area behind her trainer’s residence and kennel (Carl Spitz, trainer).
So. There is Toto.
I turned the page from the green of the peridot into the life and times of Toto.
We’ll see how this goes tomorrow when I continue this new experiment.
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If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it.
— Johan Huizinga
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Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to move forward.
— Benjamin Franklin
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Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
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The page turner. This month. One page at a time.
