WAMEGO, Kansas — For years, fans of "The Wizard of Oz" have been flocking to the Oz Museum in Wamego.
If it's been a while since you visited, you might want to get there soon. An important prop from the 1939 movie is currently on display — and it's never been seen in public before.
"It is what is known as the 'tornado house,'" museum curator Chris Glasgow told Kansas Public Radio. "It was the model that they used to show the Gale farmhouse go up in the air, pulled up by the tornado, and then dropped into Munchkinland."
Special effects crews created three models of the farmhouse for the film, but the model now on display in Wamego is the only one that remains, Glasgow said.
It was built by A. Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie, who was part of the special effects team at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during filming.
"Buddy Gillespie was a genius, and he was an absolute fanatic for detail," Glasgow said. "He built this as though it were a real house."
Because the model is on temporary loan from a private collection, visitors may have only a limited time to view it.
The Oz Museum in Wamego is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
