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The ruby slippers stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 were auctioned in December 2024 for a reported $28 million hammer price, or $32.5 million including the buyer’s premium. The $800,000 figure in the original headline was not the final auction result: it appeared in a November 2024 report as a bid while the sale was still open, and it was also the amount a separate 2019 report said the insurer paid after the theft.
Which ruby slippers were stolen?
Judy Garland wore multiple pairs of ruby slippers while making the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The pair stolen overnight from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 is known as the “traveling pair.” The FBI identifies it as the pair taken from the museum. The FBI’s account of the recovery says Smithsonian conservators compared the recovered shoes with a pair in the Smithsonian’s collection, examining their construction, materials and wear. The findings supported that the pairs were related film-used shoes; they were not a matching pair.
How were the slippers recovered?
An extortion attempt involving the slippers’ insurer led to FBI assistance. The FBI said investigators recovered the shoes in a sting operation in 2018 and had Smithsonian conservators examine them. In announcing the recovery, FBI special agent Christopher Dudley, who led the investigation, said, “From the outset, our top priority was the safe recovery of the slippers.” The FBI described the investigation and examination as part of establishing that the recovered pair was the museum’s stolen pair.
The FBI announced on March 18, 2024, that the slippers had been returned to their owner, Michael Shaw. The announcement marked the end of the publicly described recovery and return process; the documented provenance also includes their 2005 theft and their later sale.
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#1 Best Overall
- Officially licensed
- Heel height: 2.5"
- Man made material
- Care: Spot clean
- Imported
What does the $800,000 figure mean?
It refers to two different events, neither of which was the completed auction price. In November 2024, Variety reported that bidding had passed $800,000 while the auction was still underway, with a scheduled close of December 7. That was a pre-sale update, not the final result. Variety’s November report gives that snapshot of the bidding.
A separate $800,000 figure concerns the theft’s aftermath: a 2019 Washington Post feature reported that Shaw received that amount from the insurer. The Washington Post’s account describes an insurance payment, not a sale price. The payment alone does not establish wrongdoing by anyone involved.
Rank #2
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What was the final auction result?
Retrospective coverage of the December 2024 Heritage Auctions sale reported a $28 million hammer price and a total of $32.5 million after the buyer’s premium was added. E! News reported those figures in 2025. The hammer price is the winning bid before the buyer’s premium; the $32.5 million total includes that additional fee. The figures should therefore not be treated as interchangeable, and neither supports calling $800,000 the final price.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the history matters beyond the price
The slippers’ path—from use in a landmark film, to theft from a museum, recovery through a federal investigation, return to Shaw, and eventual auction—makes the case a story of both cultural heritage and the vulnerability of valuable objects. The FBI’s Minneapolis special agent in charge, Jill Sanborn, framed the agency’s broader view of art crime this way: “At the heart of nearly every art crime, we see greed woven into the fabric of the scheme—greed to take it, and greed to profit from its return.” That is a law-enforcement perspective on art crime, not a finding about the motive of every person connected with this case.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- DESIGN INSPIRATION: Charming ruby red 3D slipper earrings inspired by the magical world of Oz, featuring delicate bow details and sparkling finish
- MATERIALS: Silver-tone metal settings with deep red ruby crystal studs and translucent ruby-colored acrylic slipper charms
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Rank #3
- Officially licensed
- Heel height: 2.5"
- Man made material
- Care: Spot clean
- Imported
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