Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ sold for £22 million pounds last night – almost two decades after they were stolen from a museum in Minnesota.
The shoes were expected to sell for more than £2.3 million ($3 million). Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions said the web page for last night’s online auction had been viewed more than 50,000 times.
Online bidding, which started last month, totaled $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon. During a dramatic auction, the price rose rapidly, reaching an incredible ceiling of $28 million, almost £21 million.
The slippers were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005, when a career criminal used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI found them in 2018. The thief was prosecuted and convicted earlier this year.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of many pairs Garland wore during the filming of the 1939 classic.
Among the bidders is the Judy Garland Museum, after the hometown raised money at the annual Judy Garland Festival to supplement the $100,000 that Minnesota lawmakers pledged to help the museum buy the slippers.
One of the pairs of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland
Judy Garland played Dorothy in MGM’s original 1939 adaptation
Garland is wearing one of the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy’s slippers in Frank E Baum’s original 1900 novel were in fact silver. However, filmmakers opted for the iconic ruby red color to show off the new Technicolor process used in the film.
The story of “The Wizard of Oz” has gained new attention in recent weeks following the release of the film “Wicked,” an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West .
The auction also includes other memorabilia from the original film, including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West.
Other items among the auction’s 188 lots include the outfit worn by Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone and the original Wilson, the volleyball from the Tom Hanks film Castaway, with a starting bid of $100,000, or £78,000.