RARE LOT OF “OZIANA”

BAUM’S CASTORINE Co. ROME, NY

BAUM’S MACHINE OIL; BAUM’S ANTISEPTIC POWDERED HAND SOAP; BAUM’S CASTORINE HEAVY DUTY & DIESEL OIL; BAUM’S POLY-FILM FLOOR COAT; BAUM’S SPECIAL COPPER DRAW BENCH LUBE; BAUM’S RUG SHAMPOO CLEANER; BAUM’S LO-FOAM DETERGENT; and BAUM’S SOLUBLE PINE OIL DISINFECTANT COEF. GROUP OF EIGHT LABELS. Baum’s Castorine Co., Inc., Rome, NY. [Undated, but circa 1940s]. Group of eight(8) vintage advertising labels. Each is a single sheet (c.8.75 x 5 inches), printed in white, blue, and red, with verso blank. All eight labels are in very good, crisp, clean condition. Please see photographs to help best assess condition.

Baum’s Castorine has many claims to fame:

--It was once owned by L. Frank Baum, who wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

--Baum’s Castorine Motor Oil was taken by Richard E. Byrd’s third Antarctic expedition to the South Pole in 1939.

Located at 200 Matthew St. in south Rome, Baum’s Castorine has been in business for 135 years. The company got its start in 1879 in Buffalo, with Benjamin W. Baum’s creation of Baum’s Castorine Ever Ready Axle Oil, a mix of petroleum and castor oil. The oil, along with wagon greases, carriage top enamel, and harness soap and oil, were used on all kinds of horse carriages. A nice grouping of wonderful, ephemeral pieces of Oziana– L. Frank Baum was both an employee and one-time owner of this long-lived company.