The iconic ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, are on display in the case to your right.
This touchable model of the slippers is actual size.
The ruby slippers are store-bought shoes (size 5) that prop-makers dyed and covered in silk netting sewn with red sequins (about 2,400 per shoe). The sequins—tiny, thin plastic discs with holes in the center where thread holds them on the netting in overlapping rows—have a very thin inner layer of silver that enhanced their shimmer as Dorothy skipped along the yellow brick road. Glass beaded bows on the insteps added sparkle.
In the film, Dorothy wore the shoes on her journey through a world filled with new and frightening challenges. Her story resonated with audiences facing challenges of their own in the 1930s, from a global economic depression to the prospect of a second world war. Dorothy’s plucky resolve got us talking about courage.