Rando Bug Facts

The last beat of almost every one of the Lost Stories is a random factoid by the Woggle-Bug.  We're guessing that the newspaper editor wanted to be able to justify running the stories in his paper by asking Baum to include some educational content.  So Baum sticks on these bizzarro random comments by the Woggle-Bug, identifying some vegetation, or architectural landmark. 

Here are some examples. 

From a story in which the Scarecrow tells his origin story and the farmer who stuffed and painted him:

“Yes, indeed,” answered the Woggle-Bug. “I can even tell you the exact year the first telegraph message was sent from America to Europe across the Atlantic cable.”

“What year was it?” asked the Scarecrow, much interested.

And the Woggle-Bug, after a moment’s thought, told him truly that the exact year was 1858.

From a story in which Dorothy gets herself on the wrong side of a fence of a raging bull:

Pumpkinhead asks: “Is that stuff wheat, that the farmer is cutting out there?”

“No, indeed,” said the Woggle-Bug, who was anxious to air his wisdom. And he told the Pumpkinhead that the kind of grain was barley.

In a (charming) story about how Jack Pumpkinhead sells the poor Sawhorse to a pawnshop, Baum concludes with this tag-on:

“What was the name of that famous Lombard family?” inquired the Pumpkinhead, as he patted the neck of his Saw-Horse.

“I’ll tell you,” said the Woggle-Bug, and at once gave Jack the desired information: that it was the de Medici family.

My favorite:

“My dear Wog, what was that powder you so cleverly used to rescue Jack?”

And the highly magnified Woggle-Bug, with justifiable pride in his achievement, willingly told that it was Seidlitz powder.

They're really weird and don't follow the story at all.  So watch for 'em.  Todd says they make me look like this:

Cuz seriously...Seidlitz powder.  In an Oz story??