In Baum’s depiction of Oz Dorothy’s slippers, the pair she recovered from the wicked witch killed by her house was silver. It seems almost heretical that they should be silver, but we must agree that in the colorful land of Oz, no color except red would do.
Today, the ruby slippers are the cream of the crop of movie memorabilia, one of the most valued in cinema history.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Cowardly Lion Costume: $3.1M
Dorothy's pal, the Cowardly Lion, has a special place in many hearts. But what most fans do not know is that the costumed actor Bert Lahr wore a lion costume. It weighed 60 pounds and was made from a lion’s pelt, real lion hair, and skin! A PETA atrocity, we hear the collective roar. Even the tail was real.
Needless to say, it was miserably uncomfortable. It was also unbearably hot. The mask precluded any eating. This actor could have used some workplace protections. It was a different time.
Cowardly Lion Costume
The costume fell into the hands of a “Wizard of Oz” crew member. He thought it would make a great Halloween costume. It was thrown into a bag and sat decaying in an attic. Years later, it deteriorated so much that it took 21 experts two years to restore it.
Cara Varnell, textile conservation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, led the project. The lion costume auctioned at Bonhams for $3,077,000 in 2014; it went for a million dollars more than the ruby slippers. The Cowardly Lion costume was one of two used in the MGM movie.
The Ruby Slippers
The red ruby slippers are pure magic. When making the iconic movie, more than one pair was used, and it is unknown exactly how many were needed. By clicking the two slippers together, Dorothy could go back to Kansas and back to her home.
This ravishing footwear is so valuable that there were stolen from the museum where they are homed. In 2005, the museum was broken into, and the pair of red slippers was stolen. Thirteen years later, in 2018, the slippers were recovered.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Dorothy’s Dress: $1.56M
Dorothy Gale’s darling gingham pinafore is one of the most recognizable costumes in showbiz. It was a blue and white bodice pinafore with straps from front to back secured with mother-of-pearl buttons. An off-white blouse with puff sleeves finishes the costume that went under the gavel at the Profiles in History auction.
Judy Garland was 16 years old when she wore this dress in the movie. “The Wizard of Oz” dress sold at Bonhams in N.Y.C. for $1.5 million in 2015.