15. The snow falling over the poppy field was potentially lethal
Making snow in films was often a problem on early film sets. Charlie Chaplin used a mixture of salt and flour for his 1925 silent film The Gold Rush. Other directors found ways to use cornflakes, usually spray-painted white, in other silent films. The advent of talking movies rendered the use of cornflakes problematic; actors moving through the “snow” made excessive crunching sounds. The Wizard of Oz was made in technicolor, and the snow had to be pure white when falling over the poppy field.
The scene, in which “snow” can be seen covering the actor’s hair, faces, and bodies, as well as being layered onto the poppies and blowing through the air, was manufactured by shredding 100% chrysotile asbestos. The film was not alone in selecting the product to use as snow, during the 1920s and 1930s it could be purchased by consumers in packages for use in decorations, under brand names such as White Magic and Pure White.