The spring before, My brother was the Cowardly Lion in his High School Production of "The Wizard of Oz", and I was recruited, last minute, to help with make up and some costume. Well I held on to the make up, Tin Woodsman's Helmet and borrowed my brother's Lion's Mane. My friends Tim (Lion) and Jim (Scarecrow) volunteered to be accomplices in this outing. Tim even dyed and made his body costume! I re-made the Tin Woodmans costume with some poster board and tin foil.

They had a contest for a trip for two to New Orleans and we really wanted to go (again,) but since there were three of us, they judged us individually and the Tin Woodsman won Second. The prize was $50, so we took our whole dorm floor (J Penthouse of Washington University) to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. College was great.

By the way, one of my earliest acting roles was also the Tin Woodsman in the fifth grade. I hope to find more photos from both versions of this costume.

by Earl B.