Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers at Auction After Mobster Stole Them

Nov 07, 2024

By Emiliana Betancourt

Judy Garland’s iconic ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” are being auctioned by Heritage Auctions for over $800,000, years after they were infamously stolen by a mobster from a museum. The slippers were recovered by the FBI thirteen years after they went missing. The auction runs through Dec. 7, with the current bid set at $812,000 and the next minimum amount set to $825,000.

The slippers were taken by ex-mobster Terry Jon Martin from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 as he was looking to make “one last score,” the Associated Press previously reported. Martin thought the slippers contained real rubies because they had been previously insured for one million dollars. He was indicted by the Minnesota U.S. District Court and charged with theft of major artwork. The slippers were later found by in 2018 by the FBI, which valued them at $3.5 million.

Before being stolen from the museum, the “Oz” slippers were bought by Michael Shaw in 1970. The auction is led by Shaw and Heritage Auctions. The shoes debuted in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz,” frequently cited as one of the greatest movies of all time.

“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 Heritage Auctions description of the slippers reads. “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.”