ST. PAUL – Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill that could put the state in the bidding for one of four known pairs of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the “Wizard of Oz.”
The iconic footwear was on loan to the Judy Garland Museum in the film star’s hometown of Grand Rapids, but the slippers were stolen in 2005, not recovered until 2018, and recently returned by the F-B-I to owner and collector Michael Shaw, who plans to put them on a world tour, and then on auction.
The bill — dollar amount currently left blank apparently to give the state a negotiating advantage — would send the slippers to the Minnesota Historical Society, require they be publicly displayed, and allow a loan to the Garland Museum.
State Senator Justin Eichorn says, “if we don’t take time to preserve this history it could be lost to a private collector who puts them in their basement for many years to come.”
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