Red Slippers up for Auction
Do you happen to have a few million dollars sitting in the bank, that you can loan me? We could be best friends forever, if you'd do me this favor. I'd like to bid on and own the pair of ruby slippers goddess Judy Garland wore in the "Wizard of Oz" that will be on the auction block on December 16 in Los Angeles.
The LA Times today provides the details:
Although "Oz" ruby slippers have come up for auction in the past -- most recently a screen-test pair that fetched $612,000 at a June auction, according to Profiles in History, the auction house in charge of both auctions -- this is one of only four pairs of screen-used ruby slippers known to have survived since the making of the 1939 film. One pair is at the Smithsonian, one is in private hands and a third pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.
Okay, which one of you queens robbed that museum of those slippers? The police must have had a hell of a difficult time narrowing down the number of suspects, since practically every gay man in America would love to possess the prized footwear adored by movie-lovers everywhere.
More info on the pedigree of the slippers:
According to the auction house, the shoes are in near mint condition. They are marked "#7 Judy Garland" on the inside lining, and the leather soles are painted red ... Light, circular scuffs on the soles are apparently evidence that these were the same shoes Garland was wearing in the close-up shots in which she memorably tapped her heels together to return to Kansas. (They're also believed to be the same pair on the witch feet sticking out from under Dorothy's house earlier in the movie.)
And what might one be expected to pay to own this historical pair of shoes?
Profiles in History's pre-sale estimate for the slippers is in the $2 million to $3 million range.
I'd love to find out if PayPal would allow me to accept a seven-figure donation, to be used solely for bidding on these ruby slippers. My gay card would never need another annual renewal, if I owned the slippers, my pretty.
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