Ruby Red Shoes: A Very Aware Hare

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The Ruby Slippers have always been “pretty much the holy grail of all Hollywood memorabilia,” says Thomas, the author. But now, according to Thomas, they are entering “a forensic era,” in which people are examining them more closely than ever before, including the Smithsonian conservators and the FBI. “The Smithsonian has now had the opportunity to look at two pairs side by side,” Thomas says. “That’s the first time any two pairs of the shoes have been together in the same room since Kent Warner brought them home from the MGM lot in 1970.” As Thomas wrote in his book, an updated version of which is in the works, as news broke about the auctioned pair, a woman in Tennessee came forward with yet another pair, saying she had won them in a contest soon after the film’s release. That made four sets of Ruby Slippers, plus the screen-test shoes. This is an incredibly calming book. The illustrations are soft and pretty with lots of gentle curves and the text is full of comforting words and phrases like ‘warm and cosy’ and ‘places to drift off and snooze’. My particular favourite paragraph talks about the caravan Ruby and her grandmother share and how it’s full of things they love: The four surviving pairs were made from white silk pumps from the Innes Shoe Company in Los Angeles. At the time, many movie studios used plain white silk shoes because they were inexpensive and easy to dye. It is likely that most of the shoes worn by female characters in The Wizard of Oz were plain Innes shoes with varying heel heights, dyed to match each costume. There is an embossed gold or silver stamp or an embroidered cloth label bearing the name of the company inside each right shoe. [9] Thankfully, a month or so ago, I did find both the books at my local Target (of all places) and my son then pulled them out of one of my many ‘to read’ piles and insisted on them. So we cuddled together on the couch and were introduced to the lovely world of Ruby (and her Red Shoes)

Rhodes, Jesse (January 2009). "For Those Ruby Red Slippers, There's No Place Like Home". Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution.I first heard about Ruby Red Shoes when I was wrapping up the 2014 Readings Children’s Book Prize (where its sequel was shortlisted). It certainly looked beautiful, but at the time neither the original or its sequel were easily found in my local bookshops or department stores, so I filed it away in the ‘nice to read it if I ever find it’ part of my mind. The progressive band Electric Light Orchestra used a frame from the 1939 film on the cover of their fourth studio album Eldorado, released in 1974. The cover was laid out by Sharon Osbourne (then known as Sharon Arden) and the picture was printed in reverse: the shoes point left in the film. In "At The Auction of the Ruby Slippers", a short story in Salman Rushdie's 1994 anthology East, West, various members of a destitute world attend an auction to bid for the ruby slippers of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, in the hope their transformative powers will help them achieve personal and political ends. Bierschbach, Briana (4 September 2018). "No place like home: Dorothy's ruby slippers recovered". www.mprnews.org.

The Smithsonian conservators were nearing the end of approximately two years of work on one of the most beloved artifacts from movie history, the Ruby Slippers worn in The Wizard of Oz, when they received a call from the FBI. Another pair of the shoes had turned up, the bureau said. Would they take a look at them? One pair, known as "the People's Shoes", is on public display at the Smithsonian Institution. However, the shoes do not belong together; their actual mates are the mismatched pair (left sized 5C, right 5BC) stolen in 2005 and recovered in 2018. [7] [11] Jesse Rhodes (November 18, 2008). "The Ruby Slippers Return to the Museum of American History". Smithsonian. The Ruby Slippers of Oz (Tale Weaver Publishing, 1989) by Rhys Thomas is a history of the famous shoes and Kent Warner's part in it. Domonoske, Camila (October 20, 2016). "Save The Ruby Slippers: Smithsonian Seeks Funds To Preserve Dorothy's Shoes". NPR . Retrieved October 20, 2016.The slippers were designed by Gilbert Adrian, MGM's chief costume designer. [8] [9] Initially, two pairs were made in different styles. The so-called "Arabian test pair" was "a wildly jeweled, Arabian motif, with curling toes and heels." [9] This pair was used in costume tests, [1] but was rejected as unsuitable for Dorothy's Kansas farmgirl image. [9] The second design was approved, with one modification. The red bugle beads used to simulate rubies proved too heavy, so they were mostly replaced with sequins, about 2,300 for each shoe. [9] This reminded me of so many friends and the way they fill their homes with warmth and beauty. To share this with a child is like sharing an ideal of a warm and cosy home, while reminding them that things we cherish aren’t necessarily the big and expensive. In Wizard101, the slippers are a wearable item given after completing the sidequest "Not in Kansas Anymore". Once worn, they give +1 resistance to damage from Death spells. The Twigseeds band of furry and feathery friends have grown a following of both children and grown-ups alike. They have appeared in books, magazines, art prints, greeting cards, stationery, plush toys and bed linen.

After the research, the conservators spent more than 200 hours treating the shoes. This meant removing surface dirt and stabilizing loose threads. They did this sequin by sequin, under a microscope. For the sequins, they used a small paintbrush and a pipette attached to a hose and vacuum. For the glass beads on the bow, they used small cotton swabs and water. “We had to be careful,” Wallace says. “What we could do with one material, we couldn’t do with one right next to it.” They also stabilized broken or fraying threads with adhesive and silk thread. Over time, some of the more than 2,400 sequins per shoe had rotated or flipped, and they realigned them all. It turned out that the stolen pair is the mismatched twin of the Smithsonian pair. But given inconsistencies between the two pairs, Thomas believes the mix-up happened at the time they were made, not after filming, as others have speculated. In 2019, Ikon Design Studio released an officially licensed pair of ruby slippers. The replica slippers came in Judy Garland's size of 5B and had her name written inside the shoe. The production was limited to 250 numbered pairs worldwide which included an acrylic display case and a numbered plaque. [34]Stills from The Wizard of Oz and a mural featuring bright red poppies created by the Washington, D.C. art and design firm No Kings Collective covers the walls.