A pair of legendary ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” has sold for a record $28 million. The previous record for this type of gift was 5.52 million dollars – for a white dress that was lifted by the wind in the famous scene with Marilyn Monroe in the movie “The Straw Widow”.
Including the Dallas auction house's service fee, the undisclosed buyer will end up paying $32.5 million.
Several hundred people followed the fate of the shoes
The shoes were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry John Martin, now 77, stole them and was jailed. He previously sold the shoes to Jerry Hall Saliterman, whose trial is scheduled for January.
Boots worn by Judy Garland in 1939 The Wizard of Oz Mock/PA/PAP
The FBI recovered the shoes and returned them in February to the Michael Shaw Collection of Memorabilia, which loaned them to the museum.
Robert Wilonsky, the auction house's vice president, was quoted by the AP as saying that more than 800 people had followed the shoe's fate, and that the company's website dedicated to the auction had recorded about 43,000 views. See you on Thursday. The Judy Garland Museum was unable to raise funds to purchase the shoes.
Read more: Controversial works sold for millions. Banana as the best investment >>>
Previous record
After the sale, the auctioneer explained that the previous record for this type of memorabilia was $5.52 million – for the white dress that was lifted by the wind in the famous scene with Marilyn Monroe in the movie “The Straw Widow”. Saturday's auction also included other “Wizard of Oz” props, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, which sold for $2.4 million. Judy Garland played Dorothy Gale in this movie.
Main photo credit: Yui Mok/PA/PAP
