Lost for 20 Years, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers Fetch a Stunning $28 Million

The legendary ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have been recovered after being stolen in 2005. They had been missing for 20 years.

Two of the four pairs made for the film are currently displayed in museums, while one remains in private hands.

The famous slippers, worn by Judy Garland in her role as Dorothy, recently fetched a staggering $28 million at auction, as reported by AP and CNN on Saturday. Prop collector Michael Shaw originally acquired the slippers in the 1970s and later loaned them to a museum. However, they were stolen in 2005 and remained missing for two decades before being recovered. Shaw, who regained possession of the slippers earlier this year in February, decided to put them up for auction.

Heritage Auctions, which managed the sale, had initially estimated the slippers would sell for around $3 million. However, the final hammer price, including the buyer’s premium, soared to $32.5 million, blowing past expectations by more than tenfold.

Garland wore four pairs of ruby slippers during the filming of The Wizard of Oz. Two pairs are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (SNMAH) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) headquarters, and the remaining pair is privately owned by a collector.

The Wizard of Oz, which premiered in 1939, is based on L. Frank Baum’s beloved 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story has seen a recent resurgence in popularity, fueled in part by the release of Wicked, a spin-off musical and film that explores the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West.