The iconic ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz sold for a staggering $28 million at a Heritage Auctions event on Saturday, shattering records for entertainment memorabilia, per hicagotribune.com. The glittering heels, stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005, have traveled a dramatic road to their historic sale.
Bidding opened online last month at $1.55 million but soared during Saturday’s live session as collectors clashed over the prized shoes. After an intense phone bidding war, the final hammer fell at $28 million, far exceeding expectations.
The slippers, famously used by Dorothy to return to Kansas with the line “There’s no place like home,” have become a symbol of cinematic history. Only four pairs from the 1939 classic are known to exist.
Their journey to auction wasn’t without intrigue. In 2005, Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the museum’s display case, making off with the slippers. After 13 years of mystery, the FBI recovered the stolen shoes in 2018. Martin, now 77 and in ill health, pleaded guilty in 2023. His alleged accomplice, Jerry Hal Saliterman, is set for trial in January.
Michael Shaw, the collector who had loaned the slippers to the museum, reclaimed them earlier this year, paving the way for the record-breaking sale.
Other Wizard of Oz items also fetched high prices, including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West, which sold for $2.4 million.
The sale coincides with the renewed popularity of The Wizard of Oz, boosted by the release of Wicked, the movie adaptation of the Broadway prequel. As author Rhys Thomas noted, the ruby slippers have navigated “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”
