‘Wizard of Oz’ slippers sell at auction for a record $28 million

The ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore as Dorothy in the 1939 production of The Wizard of Oz were sold for a record-breaking $28 million Saturday during a live auction in Dallas in the latest turn for one of the most recognizable and storied artifacts in film history.

Heritage Auctions sold the slippers on behalf of a collector, Michael Shaw, who owned them. The slippers — which sold for vastly more than the $10 million that the auction house’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, believed they would — are one of only four known surviving pairs worn by Garland in the movie.

The auction house did not immediately disclose the identity of the buyer.

“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia,” Maddalena said.

The final bid of $28 million was the largest sum spent at an auction for a piece of entertainment memorabilia, the auction house said. It exceeded the previous record-holder, Marilyn Monroe’s subway dress from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, which sold in 2011 for $5.52 million with fees, the auction house said. Including taxes and fees, the slippers sold for $32.5 million.

During the auction, which was peppered with Wicked and Wizard of Oz references and puns, the auctioneer excitedly held a crouching position — like the Wicked Witch of the West in the story — as he pointed to people around the room, who called out bids in $100,000 increments. At times, a bidder, often on the phone with a client, would elevate the top bid by $800,000 or more, which garnered some stifled “Oohs” and “Aahs” from attendees.

The auction included other pieces of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. A Wicked Witch of the West hat worn by actress Margaret Hamilton sold for nearly $3 million, the auction house said.

In addition to being featured in some of the most famous scenes in one of the most popular movies in film history, the slippers have an intriguing story that have added to their lore.

Shaw had lent the slippers to the Judy Garland Museum in the actress’ hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where they were stolen Aug. 27, 2005. FBI agents set up a sting operation and recovered the slippers in Minneapolis in July 2018. A Minnesota man, Terry Martin, was later indicted and pleaded guilty to the theft. A second Minnesota man, Jerry Hal Saliterman, was charged in connection with the theft this year.

Authorities believed Martin was under the impression that the slippers were made with real rubies, which he planned to sell. The rubies, however, were made of glass.

Janie Heitz, the executive director of the Judie Garland Museum, had said that the museum was raising money from donors to win back the slippers at the auction and had been given $100,000 by the Minnesota Legislature.

But Heitz said Saturday that she realized “at a very early stage” in the auction that the museum would not win the bid.

“It’s kind of closing the book on a chapter of the ruby slippers for us and that’s OK,” Heitz said. “I think it’s a testament to how important the ‘Wizard of Oz’ is to the world that they sold for that much.”

For $20,000, the museum did buy a painting depicting the scene where the Wicked Witch’s hands are zapped as she tries to take Dorothy’s slippers, Heitz said.

The money from the Legislature — minus some small sum that was used to try to facilitate the purchase — will go back to the state, she said. The money raised by donors may go to a Wizard of Oz-themed miniature golf course or “some other exhibit,” Heitz said.

During the film’s production, the costume team made at least four pairs of the slippers for Garland to wear in case one of the slippers was ruined, according to Rhys Thomas, who wrote The Ruby Slippers of Oz, a book about their history.

Although the slippers looked nearly identical, a consultant for the Smithsonian analysed slight differences in the pairs and determined that the ones that were sold Saturday were in many of the most famous scenes of the movie.

Large portions of the famous We’re Off to See the Wizard song feature Garland skipping in the bright-red, $28 million shoes.