‘I was only made yesterday’, said the Scarecrow 1900

This chromolithograph, ‘I was only made yesterday’, said the Scarecrow, was made by William Wallace Denslow to illustrate the first edition of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’. Chromolithography was a popular commercial printmaking technique in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It allowed for the mass production of colorful images, using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color. Denslow's illustration uses simplified lines and bold areas of flat color. The effect is charming, but we should also remember that mass-produced images like this played an important role in creating a consumer culture in the United States, making art affordable and accessible. Denslow’s images helped to standardize the look and feel of childhood, shaping a national vision of imaginative play. So, next time you look at a chromolithograph, think not only about its aesthetic appeal, but also about the way it reflects the culture of mass production in which it was made.