ARCHIVE OF JUDY ROOM PAGES  |  THE ORIGINAL JUDY "ROOM"  |  CHASING RAINBOWS

"It may look obsessive, but it didn't start out that way!"

These were the first words posted on the first Judy Room website back in June of 1999. That site originally consisted of a few pages of photos of the actual Judy "Room" in my townhouse in Phoenix, Arizona. At that time personal web sites were all the rage, prompting friends and family to encourage me to share the photos of my room with the online world. I thought it would be fun too, so I went to one of those web hosting sites that gave you a rather long URL, the "Go Network", and got the following web address: www.homepages.go.com/~ozianscott. This and the "redirect" site address of http://welcome.to/thejudyroom.com were the URLs until October 1999 when it finally became www.thejudyroom.com.


[For the record, the very first web appearance of the Judy "Room" was in the fall of 1997 when Jim Johnson, webmaster of The Judy Garland Database, was kind enough to post scans of some photos of my room on his site. These stayed on his site until I created the "real" site.]


Even in 1999 there were only a handful of Garland sites on the web, and most people had to "hard code" their pages - meaning there were no programs like Dreamweaver to make website building easier. There was Adobe Page Mill, which at the time was "ok", and "Front Page", which was just as clunky. Being a real amateur, it took me a lot of time and effort to make even the most simple effects and designs. And all on a dial-up connection! But thanks to other webmasters out there, like Jim Johnson at The Judy Garland Database, I was able to learn from their support and help what was effective and what wasn't. Taking the lead from The Database, as well as The Judy List and The Judy Garland Page, the site began to grow in an effort to celebrate the amazing legacy of Judy Garland.


From the very beginning the Timelines and "Essential Garland" sections were the secondary centerpieces of the site after the "room". Both were completed by the end of 1999. The timelines are still a part of the site, even though in 2002 Scott Schechter published his wonderful book "Judy Garland - The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend" which is basically the same as The Judy Room timelines, only bigger, better and much more detailed. This book is a definite "must have" for Garland fans. The "Essential Garland" pages morphed into what is now the "Media Section".


Also early on, and because the centerpiece of the site was my "Judy Room", I thought it would be fun to showcase other fan's collections. Sadly, only two people out there in "Judy Fandom" shared their collections, but this feature survived for several years before being removed when the focus of the site changed.


The first big endeavor for the site after the timelines was the Judy Room email newsletter, which is still sent out today. This was a direct result of the site becoming more focused on upcoming products and events. In 2005 the newsletter extended to a hard copy "Year In Review" that is currently printed and mailed out at the beginning of each year.


In 2001 the first incarnation of the "Meet Me In St. Louis" section was posted. This would morph in 2003 to a "Monthly Feature" that quickly became a "Spotlight On" because the monthly deadline of these detailed sub-sections proved to be unworkable! With the help of several wonderful Garland collectors out there, and their generous time and efforts in scanning so many rare materials, these sections became quite extensive and a wonderful online resource. My personal favorite of all of these spotlight sections is the "A Star Is Born" section.

In the summer of 2003, I started a "Rhino Records" section that featured the Judy related Rhino CD releases. The site already had pages listing Judy's MGM, Capitol, and Soundtrack recordings, but this Rhino section gave more detailed information about particular CDs and became an early version of what would eventually become The Judy Garland Online Discography.


I have always been an avid collector of Judy Garland recordings, going back to my childhood of saving up my allowance money to buy LP's. As a matter of fact, Judy's recordings have always been the main focus of my collecting and the source of my enjoyment of her artistry. I had admired the old "Judy List" site's discography, but that site went offline in 2001, and after the death of the site's creator in 2002, it was announced that the site would continue on in his memory. That never happened. So, in the fall of 2005, Uber Garland Collector Eric Hemphill and I joined our extensive LP collections to present The Judy Garland Online Discography. Now, and with the generous help of other wonderful collectors out there, the centerpiece and the focus of The Judy Room has become the discography.


Also in 2005, "tinman" in Germany created an amazing Judy Garland Message Board that is a "sister site" to The Judy Room, and a fantastic forum enabling fans from around the world to share stories and network, and of course discuss their passion for Judy Garland. Best of all, it's free!


As you look through the pages featured below, you'll see that The Judy Room has had other fun features and pages over the years - some that are still a part of the site. These include: Monthly polls; "Send Judy Room Postcards"; "Judy in the 60's"; "Judy and Her Children" and much more.


The reason for these archive pages? Several people have asked about the original Judy "Room" and what happened to it. When I went back to the old pages and back-up discs I saw just how much the site has changed and, I hope, gotten better over the years. I also found that the site actually originated in 1999, not 1998 as I had previously thought. That's why you'll see the notations "Copyright 1998..." on many of the archived pages.


Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to share this trip down "Memory Lane". I find it interesting how the site has evolved over the years, and I hope you do too. And naturally, as I find more archival things, I'll be sure and share them here.


As a final note, I'm very happy to be a part of the online Judy Garland fan community, and thrilled that I've made such wonderful friends over the years as a result of the The Judy Room website. But none of this would be possible without Judy Garland and her amazing legacy. I'm honored to be able to help celebrate her legacy and her memory in what I hope will continue to be as tasteful and as accurate a fan site as possible. A site that I hope all fans around the world will continue to enjoy for years to come.