Many children from the 1960s recall the one evening a year when the 1939 MGM film *The Wizard of Oz* was broadcast on national TV.
It was a highly anticipated event. Everyone in the household would look forward to the evening, crowded in front of their 20-inch television screen, and if you were lucky, you might even get to eat dinner on TV trays in the living room.
Like many, Katie Tuttle remembers her first encounter with the classic, an experience that never left her.
“I first watched the film when I was two, and I fell in love with it. I wanted to put the VHS tape back in and watch it over and over. Ever since then, I’ve been on the hunt for collectibles. I remember at about eight years old, I started talking about opening a museum and gift shop full of *Wizard of Oz* memorabilia,” Tuttle said.
In 2020, she purchased a property on Detroit Street in LaGrange, and in August 2024, her dream officially became a reality with the opening of the No Place Like Oz Museum and Gift Shop.
“I used to keep journals and notebooks with all of these plans. When we began looking for the property, I kept saying, ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ because I’ve been thinking about it for so long, it’s really what I’ve envisioned my whole life,” Tuttle said.
Today, visitors can stop by between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
Tuttle has found much of what one will find in the museum at various Oz festivals across the country. She said most of it comes from antiquing, garage sales, and even purchasing other collectors’ items.
“With the help of my family supporting me, I have well over 6,000 collectible pieces to view, and the gift shop is full of new items and vintage collectibles,” Tuttle said. “I don’t order very much online because that’s part of the fun – the hunt for it and getting the story behind it.”
It’s a space Tuttle believes will speak to all ages and generations because while she enjoys the 1939 version, she embraces all of the different adaptations and stories.
“I think with new films like *Wicked*, it can spark a new discovery for the younger generations. They’re able to find their way to Oz too, so I can enjoy all of it,” Tuttle said. “We often have young adults and children stop by; grandparents come back and bring their grandchildren.”
With 6,000 unique collectible pieces, it’s hard to pick a favorite, but when pressed, Tuttle said a few stick out to her.
“Margaret Pellegrini is an original munchkin, and I have some of her personal clothing and shoes on display. I also have a children’s table and chair set from the 1940s. Very few of those survived because most of them were played on. I have a deck of 1939 playing cards from Britain when the movie was first released,” Tuttle said. “I’m really proud of the variety of pieces.”
Perhaps what visitors enjoy the most is simply the nostalgia that comes from walking through the rooms, looking at all the memorabilia, piece by piece.
“A lot of people talk about how they didn’t even realize so much memorabilia was made. There’s a lot of comments about that one time per year they got to watch *The Wizard of Oz*. A lot of people have special memories,” Tuttle said.
She’s still dreaming big and will soon celebrate her one-year anniversary at the No Place Like Oz Museum and Gift Shop.
“Another long-term goal of mine is to start a *Wizard of Oz* Festival here in LaGrange. There used to be one in Chesterton, Indiana, and we’d go every year, but it stopped a long time ago, and I think the closest one to us is about five hours away in Illinois,” Tuttle said. “It would be fun to offer something like that to the community and fans of the film.”
She’s also not done collecting. Most recently, she purchased a large collection from a previous collector.
“If I don’t have it, I add it to the museum, and if I do, it goes in the gift shop for someone else who wants to collect. There are new displays popping up all the time,” Tuttle said.
Follow the No Place Like Oz Museum and Gift Shop on Facebook for future events, sales, and holiday hours.
