Judy Garland’s famous ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are now open for bids in an auction that closes on 7 December.
They are being auctioned by Heritage Auctions, years after they were infamously stolen by a mobster. The slippers were recovered by the FBI thirteen years after they went missing.
The slippers were taken by ex-mobster Terry Jon Martin from the Judy Garland Museum (where they were on loan) in 2005 as he was looking to make “one last score,” the Associated Press previously reported. Martin thought the slippers contained real rubies because they had been previously insured for one million dollars, reports Variety. He was indicted by the Minnesota U.S. District Court and charged with theft of major artwork. The slippers were later found by in 2018 by the FBI, which valued them at $3.5 million.
“The Ruby Slippers are a vintage pair of Innes Shoe Co. red silk faille heels with uppers and heels covered with hand-sequined silk georgette, lined in white leather, and the leather soles are painted red with orange felt adhered to the front foundation of each shoe,” the Heritage Auctions description of the slippers reads. “The bows are made of hand-cut buckram cloth and are slightly different in size. Rhinestones rim the bows, which are filled with bugle beads surrounding three center jewels.”
The Judy Garland Museum is hoping to make the winning bid and add them to its permanent collection. “They could sell for $1 million; they could sell for $10 million,” Joe Maddalena of Heritage Auctions said earlier this year “They’re priceless.” So, the museum is hedging its bets and, over the last few months, trying to raise $3.5 million - drumming up support as the shoes go on tour through Tokyo, New York, London and Dallas.
“It would be a Hollywood happy ending to this ruby slippers saga,” says Janie Heitz, executive director of the museum. “This would be a good final home for them, which is what Dorothy was searching for in The Wizard of Oz, so it’s a full-circle story for the slippers.”
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