During the 1939 filming of The Wizard of Oz, the wardrobe folks were combing second-hand shops looking for a coat to be worn by the huckster character Professor Marvel. They were seeking "grandeur gone to seed" and found in a used clothing store a Prince Albert style coat which had obviously been very elegant and expensive when new but which had since become ratty with age.
One day during filming, the actor portraying Professor Marvel turned out one of the pockets of the coat and found the name on it of "L. Frank Baum." L. Frank Baum, who died in 1919, had achieved fame and fortune in 1900 when he wrote "The Wizard of Oz." The studio thereafter confirmed with Baum's tailer in Chicago and with Baum's widow that he had owned the actual coat in question.
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