A pair of ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold over the weekend for a record-breaking $32.5 million.
The sale of the ruby slippers shattered the previous record for the sale of Hollywood memorabilia, which was previously held by Marilyn Monroe’s white Seven Year Itch halter dress, which sold for $4.6 million back in 2011. (You can read more about the history of Monroe’s iconic white halter dress right here!)
But, back to the ruby slippers. In The Wizard of Oz, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her sequin red heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”
The slippers that sold at auction are one of only four surviving pairs that were made for The Wizard of Oz and their auction drew intense interest in recent weeks. Heritage Auctions had originally estimated that they would fetch $3m or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds of the auction kicking off. Then it tripled within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum. The winning bidder remains anonymous.
Among those bidding on the ruby slippers to was the Judy Garland Museum, in the actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The museum posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
The shoes have quite the history. In short, the slippers were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum and remained missing for over a decade. They were recovered during an FBI undercover operation in 2018, however no one was charged with stealing the ruby shoes until a federal grand jury indicted a Minnesota man on one count of theft on March 16, 2023. The sparkly red heels were returned in February 2024 to Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who had loaned them to the museum. (You can read more about the history of Dorthy’s ruby slippers, the theft and the mobster confession right here!)
While one pair of ruby slippers sits in the Smithsonian, the remaining three, including the pair sold at auction, are in private collections.
The Heritage Auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4m, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93m.
The Wizard of Oz story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie Wicked, an adaptation of the mega-hit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Need more? Read THE STORY OF: Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From The Wizard Of Oz. You can also read 20 Fun Facts About The New Wicked Movie.
