Stolen ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers are up for auction
Dorothy (Judy Garland) ruby red slippers from the classic 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”
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After a second man was charged in connection with the theft of a pair of ruby slippers Wizard of OzShoes worn by Judy Garland are up for auction.
Collector Michael Shaw, who owned the slippers when they were stolen, was reunited with the priceless piece from the 1939 film on Sunday during a special ceremony at the Judy Garland Museum. He had loaned the shoes to the museum in August 2005 for a 10-week viewing in connection with the annual Judy Garland Festival, but the shoes were stolen a week later.
Upon receiving the sequin-covered shoes nearly 20 years later, Shaw decided to hand them over to Heritage Auctions, which will take the iconic slippers on a world tour, including stops in Los Angeles, New York City, London and Tokyo. The shoes will then go up for auction in December.
“You cannot overstate the importance of Dorothy’s ruby slippers: they are the most important prop in Hollywood history,” Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. “This pair is precious because it hails from the legendary collection of Michael Shaw, and we’re honored to have partnered with Heritage. As TCM host Ben Mankiewicz once said, these slippers ‘symbolize hope,’ and we’re thrilled that they will travel down the yellow brick road to the auction building to a new home.” ”
This pair of slippers is one of four surviving pairs from the film. The rest are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and a private collector. But as Forbes As noted in 2008, the soon-to-be-auctioned shoes owned by Shaw are “of higher quality than the shoe now in the Smithsonian.”
In 2018, the FBI was able to recover Shaw’s stolen slippers. Terry John Martin pleaded guilty in October 2023 to a charge of theft of a major work of art, and admitted to using a hammer to break the museum’s glass door and display case. In January, the 76-year-old was sentenced to prison time due to his deteriorating health.
Jerry Hal Salterman, who allegedly helped Martin hide the slippers, was charged last Friday with theft of a major work of art and witness tampering. He allegedly threatened to release a sex tape of a woman “for him to take with him” if she spoke to the FBI about the whereabouts of the slippers. According to the indictment, from August 2005 to July 2018, Salterman “received, concealed and disposed of an object of cultural heritage.”
