Are Dorothy’s ruby slippers in the Smithsonian Museum?
The work was funded by a successful 2016 Kickstarter with more than 6,000 backers. The slippers return to view on October 19, 2018, in the museum’s newly renovated third floor West Wing. They are one of the most asked about artifacts at the Smithsonian.
Several pairs of Ruby Slippers were made for the movie, a common practice with important costumes and props. These slippers are a mismatched pair, indicated by the use of different base shoes and markings that read “#1 Judy Garland” on the right shoe and “#6 Judy Garland” on the left. The shoes are size 5, although the left shoe is marked “5C” and the right shoe is marked “5BC.” The right shoe also has demonstrably more wear and evidence of use. The slippers are made of white pumps that were covered with red fabric, painted red soles, sequins colored a dark red to match, and bows made of stiff cotton and adorned with three kinds of beads and rhinestones. This pair has orange felt adhered to the bottom to muffle Garland’s footsteps as she danced on the yellow brick road.
The Ruby Slippers were donated to the museum anonymously in 1979 and were almost continuously on display until April 2017 when they underwent extensive research and conservation by a team of over a dozen experts from the National Museum of American History, the Museum Conservation Institute, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.