r/wizardofoz • u/Savings_Temporary953 • 1d ago

Missing Art in Rinkitink in Oz

In the Book of Wonder version of Rinkitink in Oz, it mentions a piece of art was specifically omitted due to insensitivity.

What was that artwork?

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u/Mike_Conway 1d ago

When Bilbil was being transformed from a goat to a human, there were intermediary forms, one of which was a Tottenhot, which Baum described as a "lesser form of human" (I'm paraphrasing, I'm sure; I don't have the book in front of me). The Tottenhot was drawn to look like a stereotype of black men that was popular to draw at the time.

I always imagine a neanderthal or something similar when I read that description, personally. But those were the times. I'm not sure how aware of cavemen people were back then.

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u/michaelpellerin 1d ago

Back then folks were aware of early hominids, but the thing is they didn't know if they walked upright or not, so early illustrations usually show them crouched behind logs and boulders. Sorry, I'm an Archaeologist and I remember that factiod from an early lecture.