The iconic ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” are up for auction.
The slippers, worn by Judy Garland in the original 1939 film, are at a current bid of over $800,000 at Heritage Auction. The next minimum bid is set at $825,000.
As of Thursday, there are 29 days left in the auction.
There are currently four pairs of ruby slippers that have survived the 85 years since the film’s production, said Heritage Auction. The pair up at auction were sold to Michael Shaw in 1970, and are “the cross-matched sister shoes” to the pair on display at The Smithsonian Institution.
“The Ruby Slippers are a vintage pair of Innes Shoe Co. red silk faille heels with uppers and heels covered with hand-sequined silk georgette, lined in white leather, and the leather soles are painted red with orange felt adhered to the front foundation of each shoe. The bows are made of hand-cut buckram cloth and are slightly different in size. Rhinestones rim the bows, which are filled with bugle beads surrounding three center jewels,” Heritage Auction said.
“This Michael Shaw pair of slippers are darker in color than any other known pair-a rich burgundy-likely the result of careful storage out of direct light,” said the auction site.
Shaw’s pair of slippers were once missing for years, after being stolen from the Judy Garland Museum, according to The Associated Press.
The AP reported that the slippers were stolen by reformed mobster Terry Jon Martin in 2005. They were eventually recovered by the Federal Investigation Bureau in 2018, when someone else tried to claim an insurance reward on them.
Martin pleaded guilty to smashing the display case at the museum and stealing the slippers, AP said.
Now the legendary slippers will find a new home with one lucky bidder.
Check out the slippers on auction here.
