The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman carry a sleeping Dorothy and Toto out from the field of Deadly poppies. By W. W. Denslow circa 1900
“All across the meadows, many poppies blossomed, and that were so hypnotic and brilliant in color they nearly dazzled Dorothy’s eyes. “Aren’t they beautiful?” the girl asked her companions, as she breathed in the spicy scent of the big, bright flowers.“
“They walked along listening to the singing of the brightly colored birds and looking at the lovely flowers which now became so thick that the ground was carpeted with them. “
“They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet flowers until they found themselves in the midst of a great meadow carpeted with nothing but poppies. Now, in the magical Land of Oz, it is a well known fact that when there are many of these flowers together their odor and fragrance is so strong and so powerful, that anyone who breathes it in instantly begins to fall asleep, and if the sleeper is not carried away from the deadly scent of the blossoms, they sleep on and on forever and ever until their dying day. But Dorothy, just a little girl from Kansas, did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowers that were everywhere about; so presently as she walked on her eyes grew very heavy, and soon she felt she must sit down to rest and to even sleep. “
―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
The Wizard of Oz – poster for the 1902 musical