STUDIO INSCRIPTION: #7 JUDY GARLAND
DESCRIPTION: INSERT
SIZE: 5C
HEEL: THIN, LEATHER TOP LIFT
SOLE: NO FELT
INNES PRODUCTION NUMBERS: X 6802, 5C D 536
This pair was only used as an insert pair.
Visible:
On the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East
When the slippers first appear on Dorothy’s feet
Notable differences:
Both bows appear to have been made more neatly than others from production
The sequin layout and bows appear to be in better condition than other authentic pairs, likely from lack of use during production
Notes:
This pair is often mistakenly believed to have been used in all the insert shots, but that is not the case. Kent Warner kept them in his personal collection, convinced they were the insert shoes.
Subsequent History:
Kent Warner, who discovered all the Ruby Slippers on the MGM lot (except for the pair in the possession of Roberta Bauman), kept this pair in his personal collection. He displayed them in an acrylic case in his apartment, and by the late 1970s, they were carefully stored away in a box.
Warner loaned the slippers to fellow costume collector Bill Thomas, who occasionally showed them to others, claiming they were his and that he had found them in a “sea of green shoes” on the MGM lot.
In 1981, Kent sold the slippers at auction for $12,000. The anonymous buyer offered them for sale, following news of Roberta Bauman’s Ruby Slippers selling for $165,000 in 1988. Christie's facilitated the private sale and offered the slippers to Philip Samuels, a runner-up bidder for Bauman’s pair.
Samuels loaned the slippers to the Smithsonian on at least two occasions during his ownership. He retained the pair until they were put up for auction by Profiles in History, though the reserve price was not met.
In a significant move, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg, and Terry Semel helped raise funds to purchase the slippers. They were subsequently donated to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum.
Current location:
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum