MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Nearly two decades after a pair of ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� were stolen from a Minnesota museum, the iconic shoes are to the highest bidder Saturday.
Heritage Auctions estimates the slippers will fetch $3 million or more. Online bidding opened last month and by Friday had reached $1.55 million, or $1.91 million including the buyer's premium, a commission that the buyer pays, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the Dallas-based auction house. Over 800 people were tracking the slippers, and the company's had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, he said.
As Rhys Thomas, author of the book, 鈥淭he Ruby Slippers of Oz,鈥� puts it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen 鈥渕ore twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.鈥�
They were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum鈥檚 door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn't publicly exposed as the thief in May 2023. He He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off 鈥渙ne last score鈥� after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence 鈥� a person who buys stolen goods 鈥� later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn't specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, . He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He's scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn't entered a plea, though his attorney has said he's not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, 鈥淭here鈥檚 no place like home.鈥�
Among those bidding will be the Judy Garland Museum. The city of Grand Rapids for the slippers at its annual to supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that of the Wicked Witch of the West.
The auction also includes other memorabilia from 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz,鈥� including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West.
Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
