One of Judy Garland’s famous pairs of ruby shoes from the 1939 “Wizard of Oz” film has broken records as the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia sold in auction.
Back in March 2024, it was announced that one pair of ruby shoes famously worn by actress Judy Garland when she played Dorothy in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film adaptation, would be going under the hammer in December 2024 through Heritage Auctions. The glittering footwear holds a storied past, to say the least, which adds to their value; the auction house expected it would fetch around three million dollars. However, its recent sale has exceeded all expectations, with the shoes selling for an impressive $28 million ($32.5 million with fees) to an unknown buyer. The shoes are now the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia sold at auction, as Rebecca Cohen details in a report for NBC.
Previously, the record was held by Marilyn Monroe’s recognizable white William Travilla dress—dubbed the “subway-grate dress” —which actress Debbie Reynolds sold for $5.6 million in 2011 through auction house Profiles in History.
READ ALSO: Heist Gone Wrong: Man Steals Judy Garland’s Wizard Of Oz Ruby Slippers, Thinking The Gems Were Real
The Traveling Shoes
While there is one collective image of the ruby shoes in the minds of audiences, several other pairs were made during production. However, as the U.S. attorney for North Dakota reveals in a report, only four pairs of shoes that were used in the film are known to remain.
One pair belongs to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and a few have been auctioned in the past, as Maria Sole Campinoti explains in a CNN feature. One of these pairs was purchased by Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio for two million dollars, before they donated it to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
The shoes that broke records are called the “Traveling Shoes,” as their owner Michael Shaw had toured them around the country after purchasing them during the 1970 auction of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), the production company behind the popular film. Shaw’s pair are considered to be the “sister shoes” to the pair at The Smithsonian Institution, according to Heritage Auctions’ official lot description.
Shaw’s Traveling Shoes were loaned to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but a thief by the name of Terry Jon Martin broke in and stole them in 2005. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recovered the shoes in 2018, though Martin only pleaded guilty to the crime in October 2023.
Just Like In The Movies
Shaw’s ruby shoes are darker in color than the other pairs, as Heritage Auctions describes, a rich burgundy color that was likely the result of proper storage (keeping them away from direct sunlight).
Randy Struthers, a Ruby Slipper forensic expert and Smithsonian consultant, was responsible for verifying the shoes’ authenticity and managed to confirm that this particular pair was worn by Judy Garland throughout most of the 1939 film, including three iconic close-up shots. These are the ones of the witch’s hands, the Gates of Oz, and the heel tapping scene near the end of the film, Heritage Auctions adds. Struthers based his finding on the subtle differences between the bows and heels of other pairs.
More than just a valuable piece of movie memorabilia, Garland’s ruby slippers continue to capture public imagination, evoking the spirit of its inimitable source material (which is still garnering widespread attention through other adaptations like the recent Wicked film). As writer Rhys Thomas details in his book The Ruby Slippers of Oz: “We now know much more about the fabled shoes—all of them—and how valuable and cherished they are in American History. The magic is evident: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers are enduring symbols of the power of belief.”
Banner photo from the Heritage Auctions website.
