Thought I don't normally write posts other than movie recommendations and the occasional nod to someone I've written about who's passed away, I just learned of something I thought I must share. A new record was set at Heritage Auctions, when one of only four known pairs of original ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland as "Dorothy Gale" in the 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz" sold today for $28 million dollars ($32.5M with the buyer's premium). Prior to today, the highest auction price ever paid was $5.52 million for Marylin Monroe's white dress in the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch", so today's price was quite a leap. The slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (Garland's birthplace) in 2005, and retrieved by the FBI thirteen years later, in 2018. Also sold from "The Wizard of Oz" in today's auction was the "Wicked Witch of the West's" hat, which garnered $2.93 million with the buyers premium.
What a wonderful testament to the lasting power classic films still hold, and how iconic "The Wizard of Oz" remains. You can read more about that immortal film by clicking HERE or on the film title to open my post on it.
Wowza. I'm selling my Wizard of Oz collection. But I think I put the price too low!