Pair of Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ sell at auction for $28 million

By Maria Sole Campinoti, CNN

A pair of Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, which were stolen from a Minnesota museum almost 20 years ago, sold at auction for US$28 million (NZ$48m) Saturday.

Bidding opened at $1.55 million and escalated quickly. According to the lot page, 25 bidders participated in the auction.

Only two bidders remained toward the end, and the slippers were sold to a bidder participating over the phone.

With auction house commissions, the slippers sold for a staggering US$32.5m (NZ$55.7m), nearly 11 times its estimate of US$3m (NZ$5.1).

“At $32.5 million, the slippers are the most valuable cinema treasures in the world, and they helped make this the most successful entertainment auction ever held,” according to to Robert Wilonsky, Vice President for Public Relations at the Heritage Auction.

The ruby slippers are one of the most beloved artefacts from the iconic 1939 movie.

The slippers “were much more than just a piece of Hollywood memorabilia, much more than a valuable piece of industry history,” said Rhys Thomas, the author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz.

“They transcended Hollywood, to the point where they represented the powerful image of innocence to all America,” he said, according to the lot page.

Collector Michael Shaw had lent the slippers to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota when they were stolen in 2005. They were recovered in 2018 during a sting operation in Minneapolis, CNN previously reported.

FBI agents reunited the slippers with Shaw, who “likened the experience to a heartfelt reunion with a long-lost friend.”

Terry Martin and Jerry Hal Saliterman, both in their 70s, were separately charged with the theft. Martin pleaded guilty in 2023, while Saliterman, who was charged in 2024, maintains that he’s innocent, CNN previously reported.

Only four pairs of the slippers used in the film are still known to exist, per the North Dakota attorney’s office. One pair is housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, though they were initially mismatched.

Several of the known pairs have made the journey from Garland’s feet to fan collections: An MGM costumer discovered a few pairs of ruby slippers on the studio lot in 1970 – one pair was auctioned that year, and eventually donated to the Smithsonian – and he kept at least two pairs for himself, though Shaw later bought one of them.

Another of the original pairs is on display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures donated by a group of benefactors including Leonardo DiCaprio.

And in 1939, a lucky Tennessee teenager won slippers worn on-screen in a contest, which she kept until the late 1980s when she sold them to a fellow movie fan.

Actor Debbie Reynolds, matriarch of another Hollywood dynasty, also bought a rare pair from the lucky MGM customer – prototype slippers with curly toes that were never used in the film.

CNN’s Scottie Andrew contributed to this report.

– CNN