ruby slippers (thing)

Powerfully magical footwear. Tap the heels together three times and say, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

In the L. Frank Baum book, Dorothy the slippers weren't ruby, but silver. One of the writers at MGM changed them to ruby, perhaps because red would show up better in a color film.

There are six extant pairs of ruby slippers known today. The most recently sold pair went for $600,000 at auction this year. The six have been named:

• Dorothy's Shoes: these were sent from Hollywood to New York when the movie opened for publicity.
• The People's Shoes: this is the pair at the Smithsonian in Washington, D. C..
• The Traveling Shoes: this pair travels around the US on display.
• The Witch's Shoes: these were stolen from a closet at MGM in 1970.
• The Arabian Test Shoes: owned by Debbie Reynolds.
• The Bugle Bead Shoes: an early test pair. These don't have bows on front.

There is a book entirely about the ruby slippers from the movie The Wizard of Oz. The Ruby Slippers of Oz by Rhys Thomas. It's now out-of-print.

Two websites about the ruby slippers are:
    http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6396/rubyslip.htm     http://users.deltacomm.com/rainbowz/rubyslipperfanclub