A hat worn on screen in The Wizard of Oz by the Wicked Witch of the West will be auctioned next month when it could sell for millions of dollars.
The costume is listed in Heritage Auctions’ Hollywood/Entertainment Signature Auction due to end on December 9 – 10.
It was worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the Witch in the 1939 movie.
“It’s more than just a costume piece, it’s a symbol connecting the Wizard of Oz all the way to Wicked,” Heritage said in a video preview.
The hat is one of just two with a chinstrap known to survive from the production. That means they were used during the famous flying sequences in the film.
Adrian, who designed both this hat and the world-record-setting Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
The other example sold last year for $2.9 million in another Heritage auction, in which the world-record-setting $32.5 million (with premium) sale of a pair of Ruby Slippers from the film stole the headlines.
Margaret Hamilton, who died in 1985, enjoyed a long screen-acting career, but her role in The Wizard of Oz was defining for her. She scared generations of children with a performance that won her character the fourth-greatest screen villain ranking from the American Film Institute.
The hat which is so key to her appearance was designed by Adrian Adolph Greenburg, who was billed as simply Adrian. He enjoyed a glittering Hollywood career, including 13 years as MGM’s head designer.
It is made of black wool bunting, with an interior metal hoop to keep it standing at its impressive 13.75-inch height.
The hat was originally sold in perhaps the most celebrated ever film auction, the 1970 MGM Auction. It comes to sale in 2025 from David Weisz, who owned the auction company who hosted that sale.
The most coveted film props are extremely valuable. Just this year a Rosebud sled prop from Citizen Kane realised $14.7 million to become the second most valuable movie prop ever auctioned, after the Ruby Slippers.
In September a Darth Vader light saber was sold for $3.6 million to show a new generation is also interested in venerating the movies that inspired and scared them.
This sale, timed to coincide with the release of Wicked For Good, a modern prequel for the Oz tale, will help focus attention on this iconic prop.
