A pair of dazzling ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz fetched $32.5 million (€30.5 million) at an auction on Saturday. This staggering sum far exceeded Heritage Auctions' initial estimate of $3 million (€2.8 million). The bidding process was intense, with the price tripling within minutes, starting with online bids at $1.55 million (€1.45 million).
Following the sale, the auctioneer informed both the in-person and online audience that the previous record for entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, set by Marilyn Monroe's white dress famously worn over a windy subway grate. The slippers had a tumultuous history, having been stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by Terry Jon Martin. The FBI recovered the shoes in 2018, leading to Martin's arrest in 2023. Due to his poor health, Martin was sentenced to time served in January, while his alleged accomplice, Jerry Hal Saliterman, is set to face trial in January 2024.
The shoes were finally returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. These slippers were one of several pairs used during filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, Dorothy's journey back to Kansas involved clicking her heels three times and repeating, “There’s no place like home.” The auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch hat, which sold for $2.93 million (€2.75 million).
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