The ruby slippers that transported Dorothy home in “The Wizard of Oz” are going up for auction. But first, the famed footwear is going on a world tour, Heritage Auctions announced in a release.
The FBI recovered the iconic shoes in 2018, six years after they were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn. They were on loan from the collection of Michael Shaw, a Hollywood memorabilia collector, at the time.
Now the slippers are slated to take an international tour, with stops in Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo, before going up for auction in December.
“You cannot overstate the importance of Dorothy’s ruby slippers: They are the most important prop in Hollywood history,” Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in the release. “As (Turner Classic Movies) host Ben Mankiewicz once said, these slippers ‘symbolize hope,’ and we’re thrilled they will journey down the yellow brick road to the auction block to a new home.”
Garland, born Frances Gumm in 1922, lived in Grand Rapids until her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 4 1/2. She died in 1969.
Garland wore several pairs of the slippers during the filming of “The Wizard of Oz.” The slippers stolen from her hometown are one of four known pairs that still exist. Another rests at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
It took authorities five years to file an indictment in the case of the theft. Terry J. Martin, who lived 12 miles south of the museum, was charged with theft of a major artwork. He was accused of breaking into the facility at night, smashing a Plexiglass case and stealing the size 5 1/2 slippers.
A second man, Jerry Hal Saliterman of Crystal, was recently indicted in that case.
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