Judy Garland made “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939. During the filming of the movie, Garland used several pairs of the ruby red slippers she used to return home. After the filming, only four pairs of the shoes were known to exist.
One of those pairs were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota – Garland’s home town. In 2005, known thief Terry Jon Martin wanted to make one last job and used a hammer to smash the glass and steal the ruby slippers.
The whereabouts of the shoes were unknown for nearly 20 years before being returned to original owner Michael Shaw who decided to put the shoes up for auction.
After being in an open auction online, the sale went live on December 7 where bidders went hard and heavy for around 15 minutes quickly raising the price of the shoes.
When it was all over, the as yet un-named new owner bid $28 million! With the auction house fees, the shoes will cost over $32 million. The Judy Garland Museum was among the bidders, but revealed on Facebook that they did not make the winning big.
Heritage Auctions had originally valued the shoes at around $3 million.
The ruby shoes winning bid far outpaced the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia – Marilyn Monroe’s white subway dress sold for $5.52 million.
Martin was arrested and charged with the theft; but now 77, he appeared in court using a wheelchair and on oxygen. He was sentenced to time served.
Also included in the auction was the original hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West which sold for $2.4 million.