An alarm had been tripped yet had apparently failed to notify police as it was programmed to do. In the following years, there have been numerous attempts to try to locate the slippers. On numerous occasions volunteers dove into the Tioga Mine Pit, a deep-water lake near the museum, where it was believed a nervous thief may have got rid of the shoes.
Search Google Appliance
The museum hired a private investigation firm in to continue working on the case, although it appears it was the FBI who finally made the breakthrough. There are thought to be as many as seven pairs created for the film and worn by Garland.
- Collections Search.
- Elvis Cream.
- What you didn't know about Dorothy's ruby slippers!
- Stolen From Minnesota Museum, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers Recovered in Sting Op.
For a time, most of the pairs belonged to Kent Warner, a movie-lover and eccentric who filled his home with purloined movie memorabilia from his time working in costumes in Hollywood. He was known for screening classic films in his home while parading around in original dresses from the sets.
Accessibility links
Warner acquired the slippers after he was put in charge of cataloguing and preparing an auction of MGM props. He told the studio there was only one pair of slippers and presented them to the auctioneer, before filling a duffel bag with the other pairs and leaving the lot.
Warner died in , having quietly attempted to auction most of the pairs in the years before his death. Since then there has been so much mystery surrounding their whereabouts and the owners that they were the subject of a documentary, The Slippers, by film-maker Morgan White.
Judy Garland's stolen ruby slippers found after 13 years - BBC News
Some believe that Shaw had organised the robbery in order to cash in on the insurance payout. The work was funded by a successful Kickstarter with more than 6, backers.
They are one of the most asked about artifacts at the Smithsonian. Conservators here at the National Museum of American History examined the recovered pair of shoes. The museum has long known that our pair of slippers didn't match. The heel caps, inner sole grips, and other details are slightly mismatched between our two shoes. But we didn't know where the corresponding shoes could be found.
Judy Garland's stolen ruby slippers found after 13 years
Conservators discovered that the recovered pair and the museum's pair actually create two matching pairs. The next steps for the recovered pair are unknown as of September , but museum staff members are thrilled that the missing shoes have been found. The Ruby Slippers Bright red is how we remember them, but Dorothy's famous shoes were originally silver. The Secret Behind the Sparkle Take a look behind the scenes to see how the Smithsonian keeps the ruby slippers sparkling in the spotlight.
Inside the Conservation Lab: How can we keep them on display for 20 more years? Recovered Ruby Slippers visit museum for examination by conservators, curators. You helped us reach our goal to conserve and display the Ruby Slippers! The conservator who is saving the Ruby Slippers' sparkle October 19, There was more than one pair of Ruby Slippers in Dorothy's closet?