We have a serious first world problem on our hands, folks! Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers have fallen into disrepair and desperately need to be cleaned and sterilized.
The sequined slippers, worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz, are currently housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and are one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.
Related: Judy Garland’s “Wizard of Oz” Dress Sells for $1.56M; Who’s The Lucky Queen?
Sadly, after nearly 80 years, they are starting to show their age. So the museum has decided it needs $300,000 to have them professionally cleaned, repaired, and sterilized by a cobbler. The money will also be used to build a custom state-of-the-art display case for the relics.
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Just to help give you some context here, the median price of a home in the U.S. is $284,000.
To help raise the much-needed money, the Smithsonian has launched a Kickstarter page, which has already raked in over $160,000 from 2,900 people in less than 48 hours.
“The Smithsonian is a federal trust,”curator Ryan Lintelman told Washington news station WTOP, “so we get a generous appropriation every year to keep the lights on and pay the salaries here. But for exhibitions and projects like this, we require outside funding.”
Lintelman added, “Since these slippers belong to the American people, we’re asking them to help us make sure that they’ll last for generations to come.”
Related: You Can Rent Dorothy’s House In The Very Creepy And Very Abandoned “Land Of Oz” Theme Park
While several pairs of the slippers were made for the movie, this is the only pair on display to the public. The slippers were actually created from cheap department store shoes that were painted red then had a layer of sequins glued on top. Today, they’re worth more than your house.
h/t: LGBTQ Nation
jkthsnk
We live in a world where people need to crowd source health care to stay alive and the gov’t can’t cough up the money to save a significant piece of national art. All our money goes to war and winds up in some monster’s pocket. The Perons would be so proud.
ChrisK
@jkthsnk: The result of money in politics and a dumb public.
strix1
I will clean, repair & sterilize them for $150,000…½ price!! Email me!!
He BGB
They would be more interesting unrestored. In the book they’re silver but because of technicolor it was decided to make them red for the film.