Dorothy’s ruby slippers, which Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz,” brought $32.5 million at auction on Saturday, making them the most costly piece of movie memorabilia ever to be sold.
The slippers, which were formerly taken from a museum that kept them, are one of just four pairs that have survived from the 1939 film.
According to Heritage Auctions, the ruby red heels were once predicted to fetch at least $3 million, but the live bidding began at $1.55 million.
According to a news release from the auction company, no other pair of ruby slippers has sold for almost that price, and the shoes exceeded that figure “within seconds.”
According to Heritage Auctions, one pair brought $666,000 when it sold in 2000. Another pair was purchased in 2012 for $2 million by Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg, who then gave them to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
With Saturday’s sale bringing in over $40 million, these shoes also assisted Heritage Auctions in setting a record for an entertainment auction. The Wicked Witch’s hat from “The Wizard of Oz,” which brought $2.9 million, was also up for sale.
The high selling price may have been influenced by the celebrity power of this combination.
In August 2005, 77-year-old Terry Jon Martin famously stole them from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. According to the Associated Press, he snatched the shoes and broke the glass display case with a hammer.
After receiving a tip thirteen years later, in 2018, the FBI conducted a sting operation and found the stolen slippers.
The auction company claims that the shoes were exchanged at some time, each comprising one shoe from two distinct pairs of ruby slippers, so they were compared to a pair at the Smithsonian to verify their authenticity.
Earlier this year, the FBI gave them back to Michael Shaw, who was their original owner. According to the AP, Shaw gave the shoes to Heritage Auctions for Saturday’s sale after lending them to the museum.
In court filings last year, Martin admitted to the crime and stated that he intended to get “one last score,” according to Heritage Auctions.
According to the AP, he entered a guilty plea in October 2023 and was given a time-served sentence in January due to his ill condition. He was using supplemental oxygen and a wheelchair at the time of his sentence.
According to the AP, Martin was motivated to carry out the crime after an acquaintance conjectured that the shoes needed to be embellished with genuine gems to support their $1 million insurance worth.
According to the AP, Martin’s counsel said that he threw away the gems after learning from another colleague that they were only glass. How he got rid of them was not disclosed by the lawyer.
According to the AP, the second associate was charged in March and is scheduled to stand trial in January. His lawyer has stated that he is not guilty, although he has not made a plea.
The Judy Garland Museum, which said on Facebook that it was trying “to bring 1 of 4 remaining pairs of Ruby Slippers Judy Garland wore in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) home to Judy’s birthplace in Grand Rapids, Minnesota,” was one of the bidders on Saturday.
Despite requesting donations to augment cash previously given to the cause by the City of Grand Rapids, which gathered money at its annual Judy Garland festival, the museum stated shortly after the auction that it “sadly didn’t win the Ruby Slippers,” according to the AP. According to the AP, Minnesota politicians also contributed $100,000 to assist the museum get the slippers.
