A pair of ruby slippers worn in the Wizard of Oz, sold, stolen and then recovered in an FBI sting operation are to sell in early December.
They are the shoes Judy Garland tapped together, saying “there’s no place like home” as she ended the dream of Oz and returned to Kansas.
They will be sold at Heritage Auctions’ Hollywood sale on December 7, and they have star billing, and are described as a “holy grail” for Hollywood collectors by the Dallas sale house.
With no estimate, pre-sale bidding has already rocketed to over $800,000.
The shoes are among the most famous costumes in movie history.
At least four pairs (probably six, and maybe more) were made for the 1939-made Wizard of Oz, and worn on screen by Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale.
After she is transported by a storm to the Land of Oz, the slippers are given to Dororthy by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The film revolves around Dorothy’s attempts to get home and the Wicked Witch of the West’s desire to get the powerful magic shoes back.
The footwear should have been silver, but Frank Baum’s original story was changed to make the most of new technicolor colour film.
Four pairs of the Innes Shoe Co. red silk shoes survive.
Despite their rough history, the slippers are very well preserved. Image courtesy Heritage Auctions.
One was sold privately into the legendary Hollywood collection of Debbie Reynolds.
Another was given to a competition winner. A third pair was auctioned off as MGM Studios was liquidated.
The buyer at the MGM auction later donated their shoes to the Smithsonian, where they are among the most popular exhibits at the Museum of American History.
And, this pair (which isn’t a pair, as we’ll see) was sold privately, during the process of cataloging MGM’s enormous collection of costumes, to Michael Shaw.
Mr Shaw toured the US with the shoes and often loaned them to the Judy Garland Museum in her birthplace, Grand Rapids.
And from there, in 2005, they were stolen.
They remain on the run until 2018, when the FBI are sent a tip off.
They recovered the shoes, which have recently been returned to Mr Shaw.
They are not, in fact, a pair, but the mismatched other halves of the two shoes in the Smithsonian collection, numbered #1 and #6.
Matching the shoes to their twins proves their authenticity.
Photo matching further proves their use on-screen, and – one by one – in some of the most important sequences, including the “No Place LIke Home” scene.
They will now be sold. Already, they are heading over the rainbow.
Miss Garland’s name is written inside the shoes.
A pair was sold in 2000 at Christie’s in New York, realising $666,000.
In 2012, Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio teamed up to shell out $2 million for a pair that they gave to LA’s Museum of Motion Pictures.
Back in 1970, the MGM auction pair’s price of $15,000 was considered headline news.
Already heading towards $1 million with over a month to go to hammer time, the Michael Shaw pair must surely be headed towards the record books.
