A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥 were returned to their owner, nearly 20 years after the iconic shoes were stolen from a museum in the late actor鈥檚 hometown. But 鈥淣o place like home?鈥 Not exactly.
The memorabilia collector who owns the iconic footwear immediately turned them over to an auction company, which plans to take them on an international tour before offering them at auction in December, an official with Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said Monday.
The ruby slippers were at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical. Garland's character, Dorothy, danced down the Yellow Brick Road in her shiny shoes, joined by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. To return home to Kansas, she had to click the heels three times and repeat, 鈥淭here's no place like home.鈥
In reality, Garland wore several pairs during filming. Only four remain.
Memorabilia collector Michael Shaw's ruby slippers were believed to be the highest quality of all of them 鈥 they were the ones used in close-ups of Dorothy clicking her heels. Shaw loaned them in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the sequins-and-beads-bedazzled slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until .
The slippers were returned to Shaw in a ceremony in February, but details weren't disclosed until Monday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like welcoming back an old friend I haven鈥檛 seen in years,鈥 Shaw said in a news release.
The Dallas-based auction company said the tour of the slippers will include stops in Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo. Dates were not announced.
鈥淵ou cannot overstate the importance of Dorothy鈥檚 ruby slippers: They are the most important prop in Hollywood history,鈥 Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in the news release.
The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, to theft of a major artwork, admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum鈥檚 door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off 鈥渙ne last score鈥 after turning away from a life of crime. He was to time served because of his poor health.
An indictment made public Sunday showed that a second man, 76-year-old Jerry Hal Saliterman, has been charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering. He did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, while in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen.
The indictment says that from August 2005 to July 2018 Saliterman 鈥渞eceived, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage" 鈥 specifically, "an authentic pair of 鈥榬uby slippers鈥 worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie 鈥楾he Wizard of Oz.鈥" The indictment says Saliterman knew they were stolen. It also says that, starting sometime last year, he threatened to release a sex tape of a woman and 鈥渢ake her down with him鈥 if she didn鈥檛 stay quiet about the crime.
Saliterman's attorney, John Brink, on Friday declined to discuss the case in depth but said his client is not guilty.
鈥淗e hasn鈥檛 done anything wrong,鈥 Brink said.
Court documents do not indicate how Martin and Saliterman may have been connected.
Martin said at an October hearing that he had hoped to take what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a person who deals in stolen goods informed him the rubies weren鈥檛 real, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers.
Defense attorney Dane DeKrey wrote in a court document that Martin had no idea about the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had never seen 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz.鈥
The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he could help recover them but demanded more than the $200,000 reward being offered. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis the next year. Federal prosecutors have put the slippers鈥 market value at about $3.5 million.
The other pairs of slippers are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the and a private collector.
Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The which includes the house where she lived, says it has the world鈥檚 largest collection of Garland and 鈥淲izard of Oz鈥 memorabilia.
