Iconic Ruby Slippers From The Wizard Of Oz Up For Auction At $550,000 Nearly Two Decades After Theft

The auction also includes other items from the film including the screen door from Dorothy Gale’s Kansas home and the hat worn by Margaret Hamilton

Judy Garland‘s famous ruby slippers from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz are up for sale. Memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who is the original owner of the slippers, handed them over to Heritage Auctions in Dallas, who is currently accepting online bids till December 7, reported news agency Associated Press. The highest bid, as of Tuesday afternoon, was $550,000. The auction also includes other items from the beloved film including the screen door from Dorothy Gale’s Kansas home and the hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West. 

The slippers were previously loaned to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005, but they were stolen the same year, reported AP. Later, in 2018, the FBI retrieved the film memorabilia in a sting operation in Minneapolis.

The slippers were stolen by Terry Jon Martin, (then) 76, the report added. Terry had confessed that he smashed the glass of the museum’s door with a hammer. His lawyer claimed that it was an attempt to pull off “one last score.”

Coming back to Judy Garland and the film The Wizard of Oz. Judy played the role of Dorothy Gale. In the movie, she clicked the heels of her ruby red slippers and recited the now-famous line, “There’s no place like home,” which transported her back to Kansas. Out of all the pairs of ruby slippers she wore in The Wizard of Oz, only four authentic pairs remain. Currently, three are stored in a private collection, the Smithsonian, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Judy Garland died in 1969. She was 47.