In brief
Actress Judy Garland's ruby slippers, famously worn in "The Wizard of Oz," fetched $28 million at auction, surpassing estimates and highlighting their cultural significance.
Judy Garland's iconic ruby slippers from the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz" were sold at auction for a jaw-dropping $28 million, making them the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold. The auction on Saturday featured one of only four surviving pairs of the legendary sequined shoes. Surprisingly, the auctioneers had originally expected to sell them for just $3 million.The shoes, dubbed the "Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia," received enthusiastic applause during the auction at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Their value exploded following renewed interest in the franchise, especially with the release of the recent "Wicked" prequel.Garland, then just 16 years old, played the beloved character Dorothy in the 1939 film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's tale, where she famously clicks her heels together, declaring, "There’s no place like home." Interestingly, while Baum's book describes the slippers as silver, the film utilized vibrant red to make the most of new color technology.Despite several pairs being worn during production, only four are confirmed to have survived. One pair is exhibited at the Smithsonian, while the auctioned pair has a notorious history. They were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum when professional thief Terry Jon Martin broke in. Initially believing the shoes were made of rubies, he later realized they were just glass and relinquished them. The FBI recovered them in a sting operation in 2018 after years of uncertainty about their whereabouts.In 2023, Martin pleaded guilty but is now out of custody, leaving museum curator John Kelsch yearning for answers about the shoes' lost years. "The value is not rubies. The value is an American treasure," he lamented, reminding us all of the slippers' rich legacy.
