A pair of Judy Garland’s iconic ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, stolen from a Minnesota museum 20 years ago, sold for an astounding $28 million at auction on December 7, setting a new record for the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever sold.
The auction, held by Heritage Auctions, saw the slippers achieve a final price of $32.5 million, including auction fees—nearly 11 times higher than their pre-auction estimate of $3 million.
“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia. The breathtaking result reflects just how important movies and movie memorabilia are to our culture and to collectors,” said Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena in a news release.
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One of only four known surviving pairs from the 1939 film, the slippers were originally lent to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by collector Michael Shaw. However, they were stolen from the museum in 2005.
Recovered by the FBI in 2018, the slippers were held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where many visitors admired them, leaving smudges on the glass display case that required frequent cleaning. The slippers were returned to Shaw earlier in 2024 and subsequently included in the December 7 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature Auction.
The auction opened at $1.55 million, attracting 25 bidders, according to the lot page. The final bidder, who participated via phone, secured the slippers after a heated bidding war.
This sale surpassed previous auction records for similar items. In 2000, one pair of slippers was sold for $666,000, and another pair, purchased by Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio, went for $2 million and was donated to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
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The ruby slippers are not just a beloved piece of film history. Rhys Thomas, author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz, a book about the slippers’ history, writes, “They (the Ruby Slippers) were much more than just a piece of Hollywood memorabilia, much more than a valuable piece of industry history. They transcended Hollywood, to the point where they represented the powerful image of innocence to all America.”
The auction also featured other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, including a hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West, which sold for over $2 million, and Dorothy’s wig from the first week of filming, which fetched $30,000. Other items included the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home, which sold for $37,500, and the MGM contract signed by the songwriters of “Over the Rainbow,” which went for $23,125.
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