Judy Garland's ruby slippers to go under the hammer

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/sep/23/judy-garland-ruby-slippers-auction


The famous ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz are expected to fetch $2-3m at auction. Photograph: Getty Images

hey're not in Kansas any more. And if you happen to have a spare $2-3m lying around they could soon be on your mantelpiece. Judy Garland's iconic red slippers from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz are to go under the hammer in Los Angeles later this year.

The shoes are believed to be the pair worn by Garland's Dorothy for the famous scene in which she clicks her heels together and asks to return home to Kansas. Only four pairs of similar slippers are known to have survived the 72 years since the making of The Wizard of Oz, and the other three are beyond the reach of collectors. One pair resides at the Icons of American Culture exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC, while another is in a private collection. A third pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005 and is unlikely to be recovered.

The $2-3m figure is the guide price being suggested by auctioneers Profiles in History, who will put the slippers on sale during a three-day "Icons of Hollywood" event between 15 and 17 December. The organisation has previously sold memorabilia such as a lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, which went for $240,000, and a full-size T-800 endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($488,750).





*** i believe they should housed in a Holy Temple called -- 'La Garland Divine'
there to be viewed and prayed over by us -- the faithful

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. I hope whomever buys them

donates them to the museum in Grand Rapids.

[glinda]

3. No kidding. Husband took me there to see them on one of our first dates. We were sad to

hear when they were stolen. Unfortunately, the Museum is not particularly secure IMHO. They seem to lack the funds to do things.
How do they know these are the ones since I thought they were changed frequently. How do they know these are not the stolen ones? Would be curious to know how they figured this one out.

[mopinko]

2. how many were there?

seem like an easy thing to fake after all these years.

[glinda]

4. They have a particular aged look to them. They look better in the Film I thought.

[mopinko]

5. well i guess you would know, wouldntya?

easy to fake, tho.
maybe i just watched too many episodes of "lovejoy"

[glinda]

6. Funny! Oh yeah... I forgot my name for a moment.

[pinboy3niner]

7. It was pretty cool seeing the pair in the Smithsonian

And if anyone should try to make off with them...well, let's just say their security is pretty good...




:)

[Raschel]

8. Gotta love those anklets!