A pair of iconic ruby slippers that have been worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” and stolen from a museum almost twenty years in the past offered for a successful bid of $28 million at public sale Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they might fetch $3 million or extra, however the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that quantity inside seconds and tripled it inside minutes.
A number of bidders making affords by cellphone volleyed backwards and forwards for quarter-hour as the value climbed to the ultimate, eye-popping sum.
Together with the Dallas-based public sale home’s charge, the unknown purchaser will finally pay $32.5 million.
On-line bidding, which opened final month, had stood at $1.55 million earlier than dwell bidding started late Saturday afternoon.
The sparkly pink heels have been on show on 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’s door and show case.
Their whereabouts remained a thriller till the FBI recovered them in 2018.
Martin, now 77, who lives close to Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly uncovered because the thief till he was indicted in Could 2023.
He pleaded responsible in October 2023.
He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced final January to time served due to his poor well being.
His legal professional, Dane DeKrey, defined forward of sentencing that Martin, who had a protracted historical past of housebreaking and receiving stolen property, was making an attempt to drag off “one last score” after an previous affiliate with connections to the mob informed him the sneakers needed to be adorned with actual jewels to justify their $1 million insured worth.
However a fence — an individual who buys stolen items — later informed him the rubies have been simply glass, DeKrey mentioned.
So Martin removed the slippers. The legal professional didn’t specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, was indicted in March.
He was additionally in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court docket look.
He’s scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn’t entered a plea, although his legal professional has mentioned he’s not responsible.
The sneakers have been returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum.
They have been one among a number of pairs that Garland wore in the course of the filming, however solely 4 pairs are recognized to have survived. Within the film, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy needed to click on her heels 3 times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”
As Rhys Thomas, creator of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” put it, the sequined sneakers from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”
Over 800 individuals had been monitoring the slippers, and the corporate’s webpage for the public sale had hit almost 43,000 web page views by Thursday, mentioned Robert Wilonsky, a vice chairman with the public sale home.
Amongst these bidding to deliver the slippers house was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Fb shortly after that it didn’t place the successful bid.
The museum had campaigned for donations to complement cash raised by the town of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland competition and the $100,000 put aside this yr by Minnesota lawmakers to assist the museum buy the slippers.
After the slippers offered, the auctioneer informed bidders and spectators within the room and watching on-line that the earlier report for a chunk of leisure memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white costume Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.
The public sale additionally included different memorabilia from “The Wizard of Oz,” reminiscent of a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who performed the unique Depraved Witch of the West.
That merchandise went for $2.4 million, or a complete ultimate price to the client of $2.93 million.
“The Wizard of Oz” story has gained new consideration in latest weeks with the launch of the film “Wicked,” an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of kinds that reimagines the character of the Depraved Witch of the West.
