On 7 December 2024, a pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz sold at an auction for $28 million ($32.5 with fees and charges). They are the most expensive movie props ever sold. The previous record was ‘just’ $5.52 million, paid for the white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch.
Based on Frank L. Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film is considered a classic. It follows the adventures of Dorothy (played by Ms. Garland), a girl transported into a magical realm. Dorothy discovers that she can return home by clicking the heels of her ruby slippers three times and saying: “There’s no place like home.”
The slippers sold at the auction have a fascinating backstory. After being forgotten, they were rediscovered in the 1970s and bought by a collector, Michael Shaw, for $2,000. He rented them out to make some money, before lending them to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. There, they were stolen by a former mobster, who was hoping to pull off one ‘last big score’. Incredibly, he had never seen the film and believed the slippers were decorated with real rubies. After discovering that they were simply glass beads, he got rid of them. The FBI eventually located them and, in early 2024, returned them to Mr. Shaw, who then auctioned them off.
1) If you could own a prop from any film, which one would it be? What makes that particular object so special to you?
2) Are you a collector? If so, what do you collect, and which item in your collection is your favourite?
(Carlo Dellonte)
(Image: Washington DC, USA April 5, 2009 Ruby red shoes worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz, are on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, shutterstock)
