Johnathan Walker:Ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' recovered after 2005 theft are back in the spotlight

The Johnathan Walkericonic ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" have hit the auction block nearly 20 years after they were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum.

Online proxy bidding for “The Wizard of Oz” slippers began Monday and will continue through Dec. 7, the day of the live auction, Heritage Auctions said in a news release. The highest bid as of Wednesday evening was $812,000.

Michael Shaw, a Hollywood memorabilia collector who owns the slippers, gave the Dallas-based auction house permission to facilitate the sale in early February after he was reunited with them for the first time since 2005.

The ruby slippers were out on loan to the Grand Rapids, Minnesota museum in the summer of 2005 when they were “mysteriously stolen" in the middle of the night. A small sequin on the museum floor was the only evidence left behind, according to the Judy Garland Museum. 

The location of the missing slippers remained a secret until 2018, when the FBI and local authorities recovered them during an undercover sting operation in the Michigan area. 

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Thief thought slippers on display were adorned with 'real rubies'

Mobster Terry Jon Martin later confessed to stealing the slippers because he thought they could secure a "handsome price" on the black market, according to reporting by USA TODAY. He believed the slippers, which were on display close to where he lived, had been decorated with real rubies.

Martin stole the slippers one August night in 2005 by breaking a hole in a museum window and then breaking the plexiglass behind which the slippers were displayed. He only had the slippers for a couple days before he realized the gems on the shoes were fake, giving them to an associate for no pay after concluding they were worthless.

The 76-year-old, who was in hospice care in January, was sentenced to "time served" after he pleaded guilty to stealing the shoes, according to reporting by Minnesota Public Radio. Another man was charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering in March. He planned to enter a not guilty plea, according to MPR News.

Janie Heitz, executive director of the museum, told CBS News, that the theft has “become an infamous thing for us.” 

“We will forever be known as a place where the ruby slippers were stolen, which comes with a lot of bad but can also come with some good because it put us on the map,” Heitz shared with CBS News. 

One of only four pairs of ruby slippers left in existence

The museum is among those interested in purchasing the ruby slippers, which are only one of four pairs left from the 1939 film.

Another pair of mismatched ruby slippers made for the film are currently in possession of the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, where they were displayed for the public until April 2017. According to the Smithsonian, the pair matches with a pair recovered in 2018.

Community members in Grand Rapids, home to the Judy Garland Museum, have been working to raise funds to buy the recovered slippers, pooling money from the city’s annual Judy Garland Festival and a $100,000 grant from state lawmakers. 

The purchase, according to an online statement from Heitz, “would benefit both the state and regional communities economically, pulling in substantial tourism dollars.” 

Shaw's pair was insured for $1 million and was later appraised at $3.5 million for their value as "among the most recognizable memorabilia in American film history,” USA TODAY reported. 

The museum has called on donors to pitch in, writing that the endeavor was more than just acquiring Judy Garland’s famed slippers. “It’s about celebrating the essence of home and happy endings,” according to the website.

Other 'Wizard of Oz' memorabilia join red ruby slippers at auction

Shaw's pair of slippers, nicknamed the "traveling pair," were displayed along with other movie memorabilia at shopping malls around the country for decades and made some rounds in various countries in the last few months before they were put on the auction block. 

Shaw purchased his pair from costume designer Kent Warner, who has been credited with finding and distributing the pairs of slippers shortly before the 1970 Metro Goldwyn Mayer auction, according to Heritage. 

“The day I got mine, when Kent brought them over, I was so thrilled I literally started crying. Kent hugged me, I was just thrilled to pieces,” Shaw shared in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in March 1988. “I told him that if I never owned another possession, I’d be happy.”

Shaw’s ruby slippers aren’t the only “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia up for sale, joining a handful of other props including a hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West, the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home, gloves worn by the Cowardly Lion, a “Wizard of Oz” script and a painting that depicts the ruby slippers.

Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge