Article 1
by Lyn Lacy
3800 words
For Uri Shulevitz, whose steampunk Tin Man (2000) inspired this manuscript
For over a hundred years, readers of lavish picture book adaptations as well as editions of the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), have been intrigued by the Tin Woodman, a figure made of tin who was decidedly an odd fellow for Dorothy to encounter in the woods. Easier to understand was the Scarecrow as a familiar and comforting character for a Kansas farm girl. And the author could be forgiven for introducing the Lion—far from his usual habitat in the African savannah—since after all, the story is a fairy tale.
However, the Tin Man was a bit more like 19th century science fiction.
Baum’s son said his father got the idea when he created a hardware store window display with a figure made out of bits and pieces from the store. However, the book’s character was not made of pots and pans. Neither was he a robot. He was a man made of prosthetics, bit by painful bit. The Wicked Witch of the East had put a spell on Nick Chopper’s ax which had, true to fairy tale tradition of gory violence, cut him into pieces. A friendly tinsmith put him back together again with his young woodcutter’s personality and memories of happier times magically intact and even without a heart, he remained a generous and gentle man. He later got his own book, The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918), in which he explained, “as I lost parts of my meat body by degrees, I always remained the same person as in the beginning, even though in the end I was all tin and no meat.” In this twelfth title by Baum, the author also introduced the Tin Woodman’s twin, the Tin Soldier, and old Ku-Klip the Tinsmith who made them both.
Influences on the author were surely Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), whose fairy tales had been translated from Danish by the 1840s, and Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), who had published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and Through the Looking-Glass in 1871. As a matter of fact, Baum had called the manuscript for his first Oz book “The Fairyland of Oz,” “The City of Emeralds” and “From Kansas to Fairyland,” hinting at his desire to publish a fantasy that would stand beside those abroad (The Best of the Baum Bugle, 1961-1962). A man made of tin may have appealed to Baum as an oddity like Thumbelina or the Mad Hatter. He had already published his American slant on British nursery rhymes, Mother Goose in Prose (1897), which had been successful enough for him to quit his journalism job, and Father Goose, His Book (1899), which had been that year’s best-selling children’s book in America (The Baum Bugle, Autumn 1987). For The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum began with a uniquely American tornado in Kansas farmland before transporting Dorothy into the fantasy world of Oz.
He could also have been intrigued with Victorian Science Fiction. Likely he was a reader of Jules Verne (1828-1905) whose books had been published in English, like Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869). Also in print were fantastic tales by Bram Stoker (1847-1912), Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). H. G. Wells (1866-1946), and he might have especially been intrigued by Mary Shelley (1797-1851) and her Frankenstein’s monster, made up of bits and pieces.
Likely Baum’s notion for the Tin Woodman was also inspired by the 19th century dime novel, The Steam Man of the Prairies (1868) by Edward S. Ellis (1840-1916). The story about the heroic frontier adventures of a teenage inventor and his steam-powered, human-like robot was fashioned after a real robot built in New Jersey by the actual American inventor Zadoc P. Dederick. An imitation of The Steam Man of the Prairies was the very popular series about Frank Reade and His Steam Man of the Plains (1876), which was serialized in the magazine Boys of New York. Baum had been a journalist and two of his four sons were teenagers during the 1870s, so the family must have been familiar with juvenile fiction. In a later Oz book, Ozma of Oz (1907), the author’s wind-up robot Tik-Tok is similar to the steam men from this era, and Ellis’s Steam Man and Baum’s Tik-Tok are considered to be the first robots in modern literature (The Baum Bugle, Spring1988).
Baum chose William Wallace Denslow (1856-1915) as the first illustrator for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the artist is still revered today for the black-and-white line drawings he created. In 1902, however, Denslow quarreled with Baum over royalties from production of a stage play based on the book, and John R. Neill (1877-1943) was commissioned to illustrate the author’s second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and the thirteen other Oz titles written by Baum himself. Neill chose to keep the Tin Woodman much as Denslow had pictured him with tin bow tie, funnel hat and spats.
Starting in the 1930s, illustrated adaptations of the book began to be published in German, Dutch, Yugoslavian, Swedish, Spanish and Italian (The Best of the Baum Bugle, 1965-1966). In one German illustration the Tin Man had a box for a head, a cylinder for a nose, weird flat feet and was strung together like a marionette. In a Japanese edition he looked like he was put together with Tinkertoys. In a Russian version, he had a pinched-in belted waist and upturned nose like Pinocchio. The most surreal of all was a Romanian edition picturing medieval-type armor on a Daliesque, mustachioed Tin Woodman.
After Neill’s death, Evelyn Copelman (1919-2003) became the illustrator for The New Wizard of Oz (1944). Her pictures were soft and out of focus, influenced by the MGM movie “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) with a Tin Woodman who rattled when he walked. Copelman’s Tin Man had the same sweet face as Jack Haley’s in the film. After 1956, when the book passed into the public domain, many illustrators continued to portray him as a cheerful, helpful companion. And in an 1970 edition with three-color illustrations by Brigette Bryan (and full-color cover illustration by Don Irwin), a child-like Tin Woodman looks more like a Munchkin with his Peter Pan collar and curly tin shavings for hair.
Beginning in the 1980s -- and into the 21st century -- genuine works of art began to depict a mature Tin Man, either as a sleek, super-heroic robot or as an automaton, the 19th-century human-like robot designed to follow a sequence of operations.
A movie that perpetuated helpful robots was “Star Wars: A New Hope” (1977) by 20th Century Fox, featuring Anthony Daniels as the protocol droid C-3PO whose gestures, mannerisms and even way of speaking were strikingly similar to MGM’s Tin Man. George Lucas (1944-) has said his inspiration was “Flash Gordon” but hard to ignore are characters so much like those in Baum’s book: Luke was raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle before leaving when disaster struck like Dorothy; R2-D2 was like little Toto; Han Solo was the Scarecrow; C-3PO was the Tin Man; Chewbacca was the Cowardly Lion; Leia was Glinda the Good Witch; Obi Wan was the Wizard and, in this first (chronologically) of Lucas’s films, Darth Vader was the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz was revisited as an epic space fantasy—brilliant!—and this author's 2017 Photoshopped composite above (from coloring books) is a humble tribute to the genius of Baum and Lucas.
Other Illustrators have depicted a Tin Woodman who was less than happy with his lot in life, pointing to a deeper analysis of his dreadful plight. A filmic influence might be Nigel Davenport as the perceptive computer HAL, whose calm, hypnotic voice was unemotional and irrational in the sophisticated “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) by MGM-British Studios. Moviegoers could not ignore HAL’s plaintive plea emanating from behind that glittering console as his consciousness degraded, leaving the unsettling realization that his was indeed an untenable existence. In yet another movie, “The Wiz” (1978), Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man explained—“That’s the whole tragic point, my friends—what would I do if I could feel?”
Both images of the Tin Man as superhero and despondent lost soul contribute to the steampunk movement in literature, fashion and the arts that views old machines (especially powered by steam, cogs or springs) as intricate works of art. The following 20th-century illustrators were the first to venture into these different ways of imagining Baum’s man made of tin.
Michael Hague (American, 1948-) illustrated The Wizard of Oz (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982) with a Tin Woodman as the brightest figure on the page, as spick and span as C-3PO. He was formally dressed but not in the usual way. He had been fitted out in a silly kilt, blouse and collar. His ears stuck out, he was pigeon-toed and he had a kitchen colander for headgear. All of these joined together made him a truly comical figure, but the expression on his face was one of dismay.
Illustrated as a fellow decidedly unhappy with his transformation was the Tin Woodman by Greg Hildebrandt (American, 1939-) in an adaptation from the novel (Unicorn Pub House, 1985). This Tin Man had a melancholy visage and resembled a robot. He was red with rust, and vines grew up his legs. Thick cylinders formed his body, with ball bearings for joints, conical helmet as headgear and heavy belt, gauntlets and boots. Also in 1985, at the start of her picture book career, Jan Brett (American, 1949-) was the coloring book artist for a Random House “Color-and-Keep Storybook” based on The Wizard of Oz. Her line drawings of a friendly Tin Woodman showed flat arms and legs bolted together as if they were created using a Robot Erector Set.
Barry Moser (American, 1940-) had illustrations in his edition (University of California Press, 1986) that were the darkest of any Oz book. Not only were the black-and-white wood engravings somber and unforgiving, but also the Tin Woodman’s frozen posture emanated the gloomiest of spirits. His body was formed by layer upon layer of inflexible tin plates, and his face was a gruesome mask with a locked jaw, an oil can for a nose and a sieve upside down on his head. Etched into the tin were striations so he appeared sinewy, as if straining to keep his head turned, his arms raised, his fists tight around the ax handle. He was additionally burdened with a tool bag and heavy padlocked belt, while spiders’ webs and vines clung to his back, an illustration decidedly for fans of steampunk.
Pete Bishop (British, ), in The Wizard of Oz, retold by Neil and Ting Morris (Ideals, 1988) created a psychedelic edition in which the Tin Woodman was made of bits and pieces from the tinsmith’s rubbish pile. A rather fine head sculpted in overlapping scraps of tin sat on top of a body fashioned from electrical supplies riveted and wired together. He had a keyhole plate strapped where a heart should be, bed springs for legs and an ax handle that looked like somebody’s crowbar. Vines crept all over this ragtag of a fellow, who looked like a science project done by kids as a class assignment. Likewise, the Tin Man as shown by Jos. A. Smith in 1984 sported an upside-down saucepan for a head, strainer for a cap, inverted spoon for a nose and other odds and ends patched together for a body.
Charles Santore (American, n.d.) in a condensed version (Jelly Bean Press, 1991) had a Tin Woodman who was the friendliest-looking of any in picture book editions. This was accomplished by the artist’s choice of a watering can for a head with its spout as an upturned nose, which gave him a cheerful, gentle look. His handsome body was made up of shiny hollow cylinders not unlike ductwork in a heating system, and they were held together at the joints by nothing more than magic. He looked quite spiffy when he was repaired and presented with a golden ax-handle and bejeweled oil can. By contrast, Michael Wimmer’s cover art for a 1994 Grosset and Dunlap edition with original 1944 text illustrations by Evelyn Copelman had a Tin Woodman who was quite severe, robotic, and covered with red rust.
Lisbeth Zwerger (Austrian, 1954-) with her eloquent illustrations (North-South Books, 1996) showed the transformation of Nick Chopper into the Tin Woodman in a series of four vignettes across a double-page spread. Nick complacently accepted his first tin leg. Then he got all four tin limbs. Next he bid farewell in the mirror to his handsome blue coat and lovely red hair. Finally he turned into a fully tin-smithed and decidedly bemused young fellow. Zwerger endowed him with a lingering pink cast to his face, a tiny tuft of hair and a long red feather sticking up from his funnel cap. Despite his transformation, this Tin Woodman’s calm look was as if he was still determined to remain as contented as the human he used to be.
Victor G. Ambrus (British, 1935-), in an adaptation by James Riordan (Oxford University Press, 1999), had a Tin Woodman that moved about with flexible arms and legs, and his hinged jaw was in a perpetual grin. He was a thoroughly likeable fellow and quite unflappable, even when confronted with the great and terrible Wizard.
Turning to 21st century illustrations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, artists from abroad as well as from the U. S. have pictures that may be classically representational or variously surreal, comical, mystical, child-like or even primitive. Some of these fantastic illustrations would knock Denslow’s beloved guy from 1900 right off his dapper little spats.
2000 Uri Shulevitz (American, 1935-), Illustrator. The Hundredth Anniversary Celebration: Thirty Favorite Artists and Writers Celebrate One Hundred Years of Oz edited by Peter Glassman, New York: Harper Collins, 55 pp, 9”x11.5”
As the new century dawned and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz turned 100, Shulevitz contributed to this anniversary collection a whimsical, intriguing illustration that inspired the writing of this manuscript. The Tin Woodman was pictured in profile as a tall gentlemanly figure encased in tin, sporting a pink polka-dot tie and a benign expression. His unique system of wheels with coupling rods rotated his hips in order to move his legs, and he had a puff of steam coming from his funnel hat, both of which can be interpreted as an appropriate and playful allusion to steam locomotion in the era in which Baum wrote his masterpiece. As such, Shulevitz’s distinctive image became for the audience an example of steampunk (but in correspondence with the illustrator, he admitted he had no idea!). Worth noting in this same collection was Mark Teague’s contribution of his engaging Tin Woodman enjoying a sunny day in southern California and Maurice Sendak’s cover art in which the Tin Man sprouted big ears and wore tin moccasins.
2000 Robert Sabuda (American, 1965-), Paper Engineer. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Classic Collectible by L. Frank Baum, New York: Little Simon, 16 pp, 8”x10”
Illustrated with Denslow’s drawings, Sabuda’s mechanical edition showed the Tin Woodman popping up in perfect detail with arms stretched out and held up on each side by Dorothy and the Scarecrow -- all in a small 2”x5” space -- not really surprising from this master paper engineer, who also created a cyclone that stretched out 10” high. Sabuda won the 2002 Meggendorfer Prize for Best Paper Engineer from the Movable Book Society for this pop-up book.
2002 Wayne Anderson (British, n.d.), Illustrator. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, London: Templar Publishing, 180 pp, 8.5”x6”
Adorning the Tin Woodman was a ruff, shoulder guards that drooped across his shoulders like a small cape, a handsome belt with buckle, and stylishly pointed boots. He might have a patch on his coat and spider webs attached to his limbs, but this was a dandy to make any tinsmith proud. He looked out at the audience as if hoping someone might do something to help him out about the unsightly rust beginning to take over.
2005 Scott McKowen (American, 1957-), Illustrator. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, New York: Sterling Children’s Books, 176 pp, 6”x8”
A complex tin man was illustrated by scratchboard artist McKowen. Not only did the artist create an entire body that is precisely, evenly contoured, but he also created an intricate waist for the fellow that is composed of suspenders around a big ball bearing. The Tin Woodman had such a fine coat, skirt, boots and gloves that McKowen’s tinsmith must be a steampunk artisan beyond compare.
2009 Nick Price (British, n.d.), Illustrator. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz condensed and adapted by Suzi Alexander, paintings by Lee Wing Painting Workshop, Franklin TN: Dalmatian Press, The Grand Edition Children’s Library for Children, 92 pp, 13”x17”
This walloping edition illustrated by Price was more than a coffee table book. Open a double page out flat, and the book was the size of a coffee table itself. In 2002, the publisher featured Price’s pen and ink illustrations in a 7”x9” edition, which was reprinted as a Great Classics for Children edition in 2009 with a new full-color cover illustration by Mark Elliott of a charming Tin Man. In between, this huge Grand Edition Classic Library for Children was released, with Price’s line drawings digitally painted by Lee Wing Painting Workshop. Price’s comical Woodman was a loveable guy with a big head and spats, googly eyes and hinged jaw open to reveal shiny white teeth.
2011 Robert Ingpen (Australian, 1936-), Illustrator. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, New York: Sterling, 192 pp, 8”x9.5”
A powerful visual for transformation of the Tin Woodman was in Ingpen’s double page spread. A very handsome young Nick Chopper was shown metamorphosing from left to right, each stage shown after the tinsmith had replaced another missing part, piece by piece. Finally the poor guy was left with only his gloves and ax. The final metamorphosis was quite attractive – the tin torso was a tiered affair of nicely filigreed layers -- but this illustrator understood perfectly that the subject of all this lavish attention would not have been giggly with enthusiasm over his new form. Instead, Ingpen’s tin man looked confused and disconsolate, a sad figure of a man, obviously broken in spirit and utterly lost. The effect was breathtaking and heartbreaking.
2013 Michael Sieben (American, n.d.), Illustrator. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, New York: Harper Collins, 224 pp, 5.8”x8.2”
Sieben’s artistic style was edgy, but the Tin Man was not that different from those by other artists who used a traditional approach. Compared to the other kooky, big-eyed characters in illustrations for this edition, the Woodman with his tidy mustache was a very serene figure. Sieben had a way of squashing the character—making him short and wide, with no neck—so the Tin Woodman ended up looking like a cuddly stuffed toy. Likewise did all characters appear child-like as pictured by Robin Robinson in the 2013 Penguin Young Readers edition.
2016 Agnese Baruzzi (Italian, n.d.), Illustrator and paper engineer. The Wizard of Oz retold from the L. Frank Baum masterpiece, New York: Sterling Children’s Books, 27 pp, 10”x10”
The discovery of the Tin Woodman in the woods was one of the cut-paper double spreads by Baruzzi in this edition of only five three-dimensional silhouettes. Using only delicate paper cuts, the artist managed to convey astonishment on the Tin Man’s face when he happened to rust in place, immobilized for what might have been all time. Dorothy and friends were on the opposite page, coming to the rescue.
2016 Elodie Coudray (French, n.d.), Illustrator. The Wizard of Oz adapted by Anouk Filippini, Paris: Auzou Publishing, 40 pp, 10”x12”
In another edition from 2016, Coudray presented a whimsical Tin Woodman in laced-up, high top sneakers. His head was pulled down between his shoulders so only his eyes peeked out. His arms and legs were made of cans with labels “CORN”, “California PEACHES” and “Chile con Carne.” He had elbows, knees and waist fashioned with flexible hose like that used in ductwork. Wires were winding through the cans and hose to hold everything together. On his chest he had gauges, one of which was for oil, beneath which the Wizard bolted his new heart.
2016 Kriss Sison (American, n.d.), Illustrator. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, New York: Macmillan Seven Seas Entertainment, 400 pp, 5.9”x8”
In a third book from 2016, Sison’s manga-style edition had a Tin Woodman who was a futuristic, robotic superhero. He was shiny, with the barest hint of rust, and his arms and legs bulged with tin muscles. He was menacing with his heavy-duty ax and stomping boots, except when he got a heart from the Wizard and turned into a sweet, grinning pussycat.
2017 Amerigo Pinelli (Italian, n.d.). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Thaxted, Essex: Miles Kelly, 160pp, 9”x11”
Pinelli created another friendly-looking Tin Woodman, and he appeared in half of the illustrations as well as on the book cover. He had been created from scraps the tinsmith riveted together, with ball bearings for joints and hinges behind the elbows and knees. The funnel hat sported a handle on each side, perhaps so he could lift it to fill his head with oil. His eyes were his most expressive feature as he winced, frowned, grinned and finally cried when the Wizard’s reward of a beautiful silk heart brought a tear sliding down his cheek.
Comic books, graphic novels and manga are worthy of mention, such as illustrations by Jorge Break in a 2010 Stone Arch Books series of abridged classics for young readers. A muscle-bound, robotic Tin Man had bronze curlicues, a hinged jaw and a funnel hat spewing steam. Far from being a fierce cyborg, this gentle giant was a grateful, teary-eyed friend, deserving of the plush red satin heart the Wizard had for him. Also in 2010, Kevin L. Jones illustrated another graphic novel edition published by Campfire with the Tin Woodman as a futuristic robot. Marvel Comics 2020 edition was a graphic novel partially released in 2009 in which Skottie Young gave a series of frames that told the story of Nick Chopper as he was transformed. The tinsmith had given him a little old man’s slouch, knobby joints, piercing eyes, bushy Groucho Marx mustache and later on, a slouchy hat on his bald head.
In 2021 a Starry Forest Books “Baby’s Classics” board book with adapted text featured illustrations by Greg Paprocki of a rotund Tin Man with an engaging grin. Released in September 2021, MinaLima presented an Interactive edition illustrated with four-color artwork and nine interactive features created by the award-winning design studio. This reimagining of the novel highlighted phrases from the original text. Except for a pair of clumsy boots, the Tin Woodman appeared as a beguiling knight in shining armor who was spiffy indeed.
Much credit goes to The Baum Bugle: a Journal of OZ (Arlington,VA) for its devotion to all things Baum, from which tidbits about OZ history are mentioned here. The International Wizard of Oz Club has over the years inspired this author to continue her study of the Tin Woodman.